By Athena Papakosta

Russia insists it foiled Kiev’s plans by claiming Ukrainians launched an attack aimed at assassination of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. THE Ukrainian side denies any attack but, the Russian promises that now it has every reason to harsh retaliation against Kiev.

The fact that there is no confirmation from an independent source about the alleged attack is problematic, while the question remains why Russia chose to announce it hours later.

As reported by foreign news networks, a video was posted overnight on a local channel of the Russian capital. It showed smoke billowing over buildings in the heart of Moscow. Its authenticity has not been verified, while another video, which appeared on Social Media, shows the moment a drone is neutralized directly above the Senate House in the Kremlin without any casualties, injuries and/or property damage.

Volodymyr Zelensky, from Helsinki, denied any involvement and rejected Moscow’s accusations. “We are not launching attacks against Putin or against Moscow. We are fighting on our soil. We are defending our villages and cities,” he emphasized during a press conference.

Earlier, the top adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhailo Podoliak, had underlined that the Russian claims could provide an opportunity for a pretext that Russia is looking for to “justify massive attacks against Ukrainian cities and the Ukrainian population”.

For its part, however, Moscow insists that enemy drones reached the heart of the Russian capital, hundreds of kilometers from Ukrainian territory within a stone’s throw of its stronghold, the Kremlin, which announced that it considers “these actions a planned act of terrorism and attempted assassination of the president on the eve of Victory Day on May 9” adding that “the Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures wherever and whenever it deems fit”.

The timing during which the episode in question occurs is also of interest. On the one hand, Kiev is preparing to launch its counteroffensive against Russian troops in the east and south of Ukraine, and on the other hand, next Tuesday, May 9, Vladimir Putin is preparing for a big public appearance to mark Victory Day of the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany.

Analysts also note the different style of the announcements. In contrast, with other strikes inside Russian territory, the Russian side, this time, emphasizes the episode and while directly blaming the Ukrainian government invokes its right to retaliate against Kiev.

In Washington, the Pentagon is still looking into the alleged attack, while US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he could not confirm Moscow’s accusations, also noting that he would take “with great caution” anything coming from the Kremlin.

If this episode is verified then we could talk about the biggest escalation of the ongoing 14-month war in Ukraine. But according to Professor of Strategy at the University of St. Andrews, Oxford, Phillips O’Brien quoted by the Associated Press, “it was definitely not an assassination attempt on Putin because he doesn’t sleep on the roof and probably never sleeps in the Kremlin.”

He also notes that it is too early to prove whether the Russian side wants “either to demonstrate the carelessness of the Ukrainians or to send a message to Russian public opinion” for internal reasons, or even “if it is”, after all, “a Ukrainian operation to embarrass Moscow”.

Questions remain and more are added to them.

Why would the Ukrainians attempt something so bold and difficult? Furthermore, how come drones can cross a large part of Russian territory and only be neutralized when they reach over the Kremlin? Why wouldn’t these have been launched from some area around Moscow or from within the Russian capital? Also why, so far, no heads have fallen in Russia?

There are not a few who come to the conclusion that this episode stands as an occasion to change the facts in the war. Now, Moscow is threatening strikes deeper into Ukrainian territory, and soon after the Kremlin’s announcement, air raid sirens sounded in Kiev and other parts of central and eastern Ukraine.

At the same time, the vice president of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev reported that the alleged attack “leaves no other choice but to exterminate the Ukrainian president and his clique” while the voices for a tough response to Kiev grow louder. So, is Podoliak right when he says that Russia is “very scared”? Or is Russia too determined after all?