According to the New York Times on May 5, US officials said that the drone attack on the Kremlin earlier this month was likely to be carefully planned by a special military or intelligence unit in Ukraine. It is the latest in a series of covert operations in Ukraine against Russian targets that have rattled the Biden administration.
According to reports, US intelligence agencies do not know which Ukrainian unit carried out the attack, and it is not clear whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or his senior officials knew about the operation.
Image source: Screenshot of the New York Times report
U.S. intelligence agencies based their initial assessment in part on intercepted communications. In some communications, Ukrainian officials themselves said they believed Ukraine was responsible for the attack.
Such attacks on Russia have rattled U.S. officials. The United States is the largest supplier of military equipment to Ukraine.
Recently, U.S. intelligence agencies noticed that Ukrainian forces have formed a loose alliance capable of conducting limited operations inside and outside Russia, using either their own personnel or partners under their own command. U.S. officials say some of these missions may be carried out with little oversight by Zelensky.
According to Russian media reports, the Kremlin, the official residence of the Russian president, was attacked by drones on the 3rd local time, and no casualties were caused. The picture shows the scene of a drone attack. (Video screenshot) Photo/Visual China
U.S. officials said that in addition to the drone strikes, they believe Ukraine is responsible for the assassination of the daughter of a prominent Russian sociologist, the killing of a pro-Russian blogger and a series of attacks in Russian towns near the Russian-Ukrainian border.
U.S. officials also believe that the bombing of the Nord Stream pipeline was carried out by pro-Ukrainian agents whose ties to the Ukrainian government have not yet been determined.
Because the discussion was about sensitive information, the officials requested anonymity. They described their assessment in general terms but would not disclose details of the intercepted intelligence.
RIA Novosti reported on May 5 that Ukraine tried to send a drone to attack the palace, and Russia took timely action to make the drone abnormal, without causing casualties or property damage. Russian President Vladimir Putin was not injured in the attack, and his work schedule went on as usual.
Subsequently, Zelensky spoke out denying attacking the palace, "We don't have enough weapons to do this." That's why we don't use it anywhere else. ”