The US on Thursday has rubbished claims it was behind a Ukrainian attempt to assassinate Vladimir Putin, one day after Volodymyr Zelensky made a similar denial.
The Kremlin has accused both countries of attempting to assassinate the Russian president in a drone attack in Moscow and said it would be “absolutely ridiculous,” for either side to deny their involvement.
On CNN, US national security spokesman John Kirby said: “Obviously, it's a ludicrous claim.”
He added: “The United States has nothing to do with it. We don't even know exactly what happened here, but I can assure you the United States had no role in it whatsoever.”
In a speech on Thursday, Mr Zelensky said he believed Mr Putin should face justice once his invasion of Ukraine is defeated.
In The Hague, where the International Criminal Court is based, Mr Zelensky urged the global community to hold Putin accountable and told the ICC judges that Russia's leader "deserves to be sentenced for (his) criminal actions right here in the capital of the international law”.
Here is everything we know:
What happened?
Russian security chiefs say the Kremlin was attacked by two drones, which had been allegedly sent specifically to kill the Russian president.
They add that high-tech weapons made it into Russian airspace, but they managed to intercept the devices before they could do any real damage.
The security chiefs say the two drones were allegedly making their way to target Putin’s home in the Kremlin, but were disabled by electronic-defence systems before they could strike or detonate.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin wasn’t in the Kremlin at the time and was instead working from his Novo-Ogaryovo home.
What has Russia said?
Russian forces say it believes the drones were an assassination attempt and have warned that they will be looking to retaliate as they “see fit”. They have said they are particularly annoyed that the alleged attack came in the lead-up to their Victory Day celebrations.
In a statement, issued through the state-run RIA news agency, it was said: “Two unmanned aerial vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin. As a result of timely actions taken by the military and special services, with the use of radar warfare systems, the devices were put out of action.
“We regard these actions as a planned terrorist act and an attempt on the president’s life, carried out on the eve of Victory Day, the May 9 Parade, at which the presence of foreign guests is also planned.
“The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit.”
On Thursday, Mr Putin's spokesman accused the United States of being behind the alleged attack.
Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a daily conference call that the Kremlin was “well aware that the decision on such actions and terrorist attacks is not made in Kyiv, but in Washington”.
“And then Kyiv does what it's told to do,” Mr Peskov added, without offering evidence for his claim.
What has Ukraine said?
Reuters News Agency has reported how Ukraine has completely denied sending any weapons of war to assassinate the Russian president.
A senior Ukrainian presidential official told the agency that “Kyiv had nothing to do with” the alleged attack, and hailed it as the “most dramatic accusation Russia has levelled against Ukraine since invading its neighbour more than 14 months ago”.
There has been little to show in terms of evidence, but Baza, a Telegram channel with links to Russia’s law-enforcement agencies, posted a video that allegedly shows a flying object approaching the Kremlin Senate building before blowing up just before reaching it.
“We do not attack the Kremlin because, first of all, it does not solve any military problems,” Ukraine’s presidential advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Wednesday afternoon.
“This is extremely disadvantageous from the point of view of preparing our offensive measures.
“And, most importantly, it would allow Russia to justify massive strikes on Ukrainian cities, on the civilian population, on infrastructure facilities. Why do we need this?”
Have there been assassination attempts on Putin in the past?
Mr Putin survived another assassination in September 2022, according to media reports in the Mint publication, in what was the most recent attempt before this alleged attack.
It was said Putin’s limousine was allegedly attacked by a “loud bang” on its left front wheel, which was followed by “heavy smoke”.
In May 2022, a top Ukraine intelligence officer told Ukrainska Pravda, an online newspaper based in Kyiv: “There was an attempt to assassinate Putin (in March 2022)… He was even attacked, it is said, by representatives of the Caucasus, not so long ago. This is non-public information. [It was an] unsuccessful attempt, but it really happened.”
The Mirror has reported in the past how Putin has in fact beaten five assassination attempts in total.
In the event of an assassination, PM Mikhail Mishustin would take control of the Russian state, according to Business Insider.
