Kremlin drones: assassination attempt or something else?

The sole victim of Wednesday's drone strike was the pride of the Federal Security Service, the Russian agency responsible for the Kremlin's security

The clock on the Spasskaya Tower showed 2 :27, and the Kremlin was flooded with its usual illumination when the first drone arrived.

Taking off from the Moscow night sky, it crashed into the rotunda of the 18th century Senate Palace. to Vladimir Putin's office. Later footage showed it starting a small fire on the roof.

Sixteen minutes later, a second drone flew right over Red Square and exploded just above the rotunda, scattering debris across the fortress grounds.

Two of a man climbing onto the rotunda platform ducked but did not appear to have been hurt by the blast. Shortly thereafter, the searchlights went out, leaving an unusual gap on the Moscow skyline.

The sole victim of Wednesday's drone strike was the pride of the Federal Security Service (FSO), the Russian agency tasked with guarding Putin and keeping the Kremlin safe.

But the unprecedented attack on the very symbol of Russian statehood sent shockwaves far beyond Moscow.< /p>

It was «an attempt on the life of the president» and a «terrorist act,» the Kremlin press service said.
Putin was not in the Kremlin, and he was not injured, the publication added.

The speaker of the upper house, Vyacheslav Volodin, demanded that Russia take revenge by using weapons capable of “stopping and destroying the Kiev terrorist regime.”

“The last time the enemy bombed Moscow was in 1942,” said Igor Girkin, a former Kremlin-backed military leader. , who became a harsh critic of the Kremlin's military actions.

Drone attack on the Kremlin

Ukrainian denials followed just as quickly.

“We are not attacking Putin or Moscow. We are fighting on our own territory. We are protecting our villages and cities,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a visit to Finland.

“Everything is predictable. Russia is clearly preparing a large-scale terrorist attack,” Zelensky’s adviser Mikhail Podolyak said.

“Therefore, first it detains a large supposedly sabotage group in the Crimea, and then demonstrates“ drones over the Kremlin ”.

Was it a mockery?

The statement of the Russian government that this should be an attempt on Putin be skeptical.

He is very rarely in the Kremlin these days and almost never sleeps, so the chances of finding him at home were minimal.

Although his offices were supposed to be in the Senate Palace, the building that was hit, the drones exploded harmlessly on or above the rooftop, not out the window.

In other words, this is more of a demonstration of capabilities — a way to taunt the Russian by the government than a serious assassination attempt.

And this is quite within the power of Ukraine.

In response to videos on the Internet

The Russian government announced a strike early on Wednesday morning, about 12 hours after start.
However, it seems that this was a reaction to the footage that gained popularity on social networks, and not an organized release of information.

The first message came a few minutes after the explosions.

“Neighbors from the house on embankment report a strong explosion and smoke in the center around 02:30. A few minutes later there was another explosion,” wrote the local gossip channel Yakimanka’s Neighbors at 2:37.

At 3:16 a.m., the TV channel cited eyewitness accounts describing “the force of the explosion like a roll of thunder,” while other residents “saw sparks in the sky and people with torches near the Kremlin wall after the strikes. The lighting of the Kremlin Wall and the Kremlin Embankment is now off.”

Attack on the Kremlin

The House on the Embankment is a large residential complex across the river from the Kremlin, and footage of smoke rising from the Kremlin appeared on the canal.

p>

Later footage from other angles, some showing the clock on the Spasskaya Tower, confirmed the time of the attack.

At least one video appeared to have been filmed by a security camera monitor, filmed in turn by someone with a cell phone, but it was not clear who decided to post it on social media.

It is not clear where it came from drones.

A security officer's nightmare

Theoretically, the Kremlin's red walls enclose one of the safest airspace triangles in the world.
In fact, like any downtown government office, it's a security officer's nightmare security.

The walls may be tall, but anyone can buy a ticket to gain access to the citadel — although Mr. Putin's residence and office are strictly off-limits to tourists — and it's a slap in the face in the center of Europe's largest city.

It is surrounded on three sides by a crowded six-lane highway, a park popular with families and young couples, and Red Square, filled from dawn to dusk with tourists, wedding banquets and ordinary Muscovites hurrying to and from work.< /p>

It is possible that the drones were launched from somewhere very close, perhaps from Moscow itself.

Electronic jamming devices

Ukraine has demonstrated the ability to send spetsnaz operators deep into Russian positions, and launching from a city would eliminate the need to break through the air defenses of the Russian capital.

However, this would require a way to overcome the powerful electronic jamming devices used by the FSO to protect the Kremlin from such an attack.

In 2016, drivers in Moscow noticed navigation apps crashing when they passed the fortress. The Russian tech blogger who conducted the investigation concluded that the Kremlin was jamming civilian GPS to keep quadcopters from flying near it.

Cynics and others accustomed to the Kremlin's dealings with the truth will notice that people are better off the FSO itself is the only one capable of penetrating this defense.

Other Ways of Thinking

Mr. Podolyak suggested that the Kremlin wanted to justify some sort of future. «terrorist» strike on Ukraine, but there are other ways that such a brazen attack could be useful to Putin.

The alleged attempt to assassinate Putin by hitting the very symbol of Russian statehood could help justify a second wave of conscription, which the Kremlin has previously avoided because of the risk of public backlash.

There is no evidence to support this version of events.

Firefighters stand next to a huge fire at a fuel depot in Sevastopol, where authorities said it was the result of a drone attack. Photo: TELEGRAM/@razvozhaev/AFP via Getty Images

Both sides are deploying unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and strike in huge numbers and are rapidly expanding their capabilities.

Battlefield devices range from small commercial quadcopters modified to drop grenades, to loitering «kamikaze» munitions and sophisticated, long-range attack drones designed to fly deep into enemy territory.

As a result the arms race led to inventive countermeasures on both sides.

The Russians in particular are notorious for signal jamming, GPS spoofing, and even taking control of enemy drones using a competing signal.

Ukrainians have the upper hand

But it looks like the Ukrainians have advantage in offensive creativity — and not only in the air.

In October, they attacked the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the harbor of Sevastopol, using unmanned boats with modified jet ski engines.

Timeline: Attacks on Russian territory

On February 28, a fuel depot in the Krasnodar Territory was blown up as a result of a drone attack in the depths of Russia itself, and St. Petersburg was forced to close its airspace.

One drone flew to the Moscow region, but almost hit the gas facility it was aiming at.

In March, an unnamed defense industry source told the magazine that the Ukrainian army would receive «significant and high-tech capabilities» in the coming weeks, but did not elaborate.

The Ukrainian government has a policy of not officially commenting on strikes in Russia.

But late Tuesday night, Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the President of Ukraine, tweeted a rocket emoji. Perhaps he was referring to a night strike at an oil facility in southern Russia.

And in Mr. Podolyak's Twitter statement, there was a hidden line that could only be described as a wink of understanding.

“The appearance of unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles at energy facilities or on the territory of the Kremlin can only indicate the partisan activity of local forces resistance,” he wrote. “As you know, drones can be bought at any military store…”

This was a blow to Vladimir Putin’s vile lie that the nameless troops that seized Crimea in 2014 were interested locals who received weapons from the army store surplus.

None of this is evidence of Ukrainian involvement.

Minutes after the strike in Moscow was reported on Wednesday afternoon, airborne sirens sounded over Kiev alarm.

The all-clear sounded soon after, but the Ukrainian capital will be on high alert for several weeks.

False flag or not, the Kremlin will seek public revenge.< /p>