KEY POINTS
- Zelensky denied ordering his army to carry out drone attacks on Putin’s residence in the Kremlin
- He said Ukraine is focusing on defending its own territories from Russian invasion
- A spokesman for Zelensky said Russia is using the incident as a pretext to escalate the conflict
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday claimed the alleged assassination attempt on Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely fake and is a ploy by the Kremlin to cover up its massive losses in the war.
Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine of sending two drones to target Putin’s residence in the Kremlin. While the drones were shot down, Moscow said it “reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit.”
Speaking at a news conference in Helsinki, Zelensky denied accusations that his country carried out the alleged drone attacks, adding that Kyiv is focusing on defending its own territories amid the Russian invasion.
“We don’t attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We are defending our villages and cities,” Zelensky said, adding that Russia was most likely using the alleged drone incident to distract Russians from its mounting losses in the war.
Serhii Nykyforov, a spokesman for Zelensky, said that Russia is using the alleged drone attack as a pretext to escalate the conflict.
“A terrorist attack is the destruction of residential buildings in Dnipro and Uman, or the missile attack on the train station in Kramatorsk, and numerous other tragedies. Whereas what happened in Moscow is obviously an escalation of the situation with an eye to the approaching May 9 holiday,” he said, as quoted by the independent news website Meduza. “A predictable step from our opponents.”
As of Wednesday, Russia lost a total of 191,940 military personnel in combat, according to estimates from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The figure included 520 soldiers killed over the past day.
In addition to its military death toll, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry also estimated that Russia has lost up to 3,702 tanks, 7,199 combat armored machines, 2,946 artillery systems, 2,505 UAVs and 5,865 vehicles and fuel tanks in the war.
Russia and Ukraine are currently deadlocked in a months-long fight for control of the eastern city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast. Russia’s Wagner group advanced in some directions Tuesday, while Ukraine successfully ousted Russian forces from other positions Monday, per Reuters.
