Russia blames Ukraine and the United States for the attack. According to other claims, Russia or the Russian resistance movement has been involved.
The perpetrator of the drone attack on the Moscow Kremlin on Wednesday is still shrouded in mystery. Also little information has leaked out about the attack itself.
Russia blamed Ukraine for the attack on Wednesday. On Thursday, it claimed the US planned the attack. Ukraine has denied that it had anything to do with the attack.
In this story, reviews the most important information about the attack and presents different theories about its perpetrator.
What is known about the attack?
Two drones exploded in Moscow on the roof of the Senate Palace of the Kremlin on Wednesday morning. The explosions caused only minor fire damage to the palace dome.
Information about the attack began to spread about half a day later, when Russian media published several surveillance camera videos of the explosions. The videos have been compiled by, among others, an independent news website Meduza (you will switch to another service).
Experts have mostly considered the videos to be authentic. There are a huge number of surveillance cameras around the Kremlin. The details seen in the videos do not contradict the alleged place or time of the event.
According to Meduza, it can be concluded from the videos that one of the drones approached the Kremlin from the south at 2:27 am and the other from the east at 2:43 am.
One of the videos shows two people climbing on the roof just before the second drone explodes. It is unclear what they are doing on the roof.
There is no other information about, for example, drone models or the quality of explosives. It is unclear whether both drones exploded on purpose or were shot down by air defenses.
Theory 1: Russia staged the attack
Think tank ISW (you switch to another service) and some experts consider it most likely that Russia staged the attacks itself.
According to ISW, the purpose of the staging would be to raise support for the war. The strike would emphasize Russia’s claim that the war is about Russia’s existence and justify the fact that the entire society must be mobilized for war.
According to ISW, the fact that the drones got over the Kremlin at all speaks in favor of the staging theory. Moscow is protected by several air defense zones, and the Kremlin in particular is heavily protected. Recently, new Pantsir anti-aircraft systems have been brought to Moscow.
In addition, the comments of various Russian authorities about the attack were very consistent. In the past, the Russian administration has had difficulty quickly coming up with a suitable answer when Ukraine has been successful in the war.
Theory 2: Ukraine carried out the attack
Many experts have the complete opposite opinion. According to them, a direct attack on the heavily defended Kremlin is so humiliating for Russia that staging is not likely.
Ukraine probably has at least three different drones capable of flying as far as Moscow, says a military researcher interviewed by AFP Samuel Bendett.
Russian researcher Mark Galeotti evaluate In the Spectator magazine (you will switch to another service), that Ukraine is the most likely perpetrator of the attack. If so, the purpose was mostly symbolic. It was intended to show that even Moscow is not safe from war.
The attack took place just a few days before the May 9 Victory Day parade on Red Square, which has an important place in war propaganda. Several holiday parades have already been canceled in other towns for security reasons.
Russian independent political researcher Kirill Shamiyev says For Meduza (you will switch to another service), that Ukraine’s goal could be to destabilize Russia with an attack. The humiliating blow makes the Russian regime look weak and raises discontent, especially among the passionate supporters of the war.
According to Shamiyev, Ukraine’s reaction to the attack seems suspiciously uniform. Ukraine has also previously denied attacks that were clearly carried out by it.
Theory 3: The Russian resistance movement struck
Former Duma representative living in Ukraine and Poland Ilya Ponomarev Has said to CNN (you will switch to another service), that Russian partisans carried out the attack. Ponomarjov did not provide evidence for his claim.
According to his own words, Ponomarjov is connected to the resistance movement against the Russian regime. He has previously claimed various attacks, like a propagandist Darja Duginan August assassination, to do it. There is actually no evidence of this or even of the existence of a large-scale movement.
At least the Russian researcher Mark Galeotti is not convinced by this theory. According to him, amateurs have not been able to make a strike that penetrated Moscow’s air defense.
Source: AFP