Putin assassination bid: Moscow’s ‘terror’ attack vs Kyiv’s ‘staged ops’ as Ukraine war sees new tension

The dramatic visuals of Russian forces shooting down drones over the Kremlin residence of president Vladimir Putin may change both political as well as military discourse from both sides in the coming days. While Moscow says that what happened on Wednesday was a terror attack, Kyiv maintains that it was nothing but staged operations by Russia.

Last night, Moscow claimed that there was an assassination attempt by enemy forces to kill president Putin. The Russian president was not present at the time of the said attack. While Ukraine has denied any involvement in the attack, it is also known that Russia has witnessed several drone attacks in the recent past. A BBC report says that drone attacks were reported from Kireyevsk, Gubastovo areas of Russia. In December of 2022, an airbase of Russian forces came under drone attack.

However, Ukraine has maintained that it was not behind these attacks. The BBC report says that as many as 20 such drone attacks have been reported by Russia or Russia-held territories in the past.

From R18 to TB2 armed drones, Ukraine has used these devices in the air war extensively. Russian forces have inflicted heavy losses due to such drone attacks.

The big question is – could Ukraine have launched the drone directly to target Moscow?

Technically speaking, yes. The R18 drone of Ukraine has the range to fly to Moscow directly from Kyiv. But it is highly impossible for a drone to survive in face of Moscow’s robust defence infra.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s meeting at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. It should be noted that the ICC had issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March.

On the war front, Zelenskiy says that Russian shells claimed the lives of 21 civilians in Ukraine’s Kherson region. The attack targeted a railway station, a hypermarket, and residential buildings. Kyiv has also claimed that its air defences downed 18 kamikaze drones that were allegedly launched by Moscow. In another development, TASS said that an oil reservoir located in Russia’s southern region came under a drone attack.