Kremlin attack: Ukraine denies Russian claims of drone attack assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin

President Volodymyr Zelensky has shot down claims by Russian authorities that Ukraine has to assassinate Vladimir Putin, by attacking the Kremlin with two drones.

Moscow branded the alleged overnight attack as a “terrorist act” and said Russian military and security forces had disabled the drones before they could strike. Unverified video footage circulating online appears to show smoke near the Kremlin - although it is not clear when or whether this happened. It said there had been no damage caused nor casualties incurred, and did not provide any other details.

Ukrainian politicians denied any involvement with the alleged attack. President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “We don’t attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We’re defending our villages and cities.”

Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak also denied any involvement, saying: “Ukraine has nothing to do with drone attacks on the Kremlin.” He added that the claims would provide a pretext for Russia “to justify massive strikes on Ukrainian cities, on the civilian population, on infrastructure facilities” in coming days.

The Russian news agency Tass quoted the statement as saying that the Kremlin considered the development to be a deliberate attempt on Vladimir Putin’s life ahead of Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on 9 May.

It added that President Putin was safe and continued to work with his schedule unchanged. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti that Putin was not in the Kremlin at the time and was working from the Novo-Ogaryovo residence. Peskov said that the Victory Day parade would take place as scheduled on 9 May.

In a statement, the Russian presidency said: "Last night, the Kyiv regime attempted to carry out a strike on the Kremlin residence of the President of the Russian Federation with unmanned aerial vehicles.”

The BBC reported described the incident "as a planned terrorist act and an assassination attempt on the president", and said Russia "reserves the right to take retaliatory measures wherever and whenever is deemed necessary".

There were no immediate comment from Ukrainian authorities. The Kremlin did not present any evidence from the reported incident, and its statement included few details.

Russia retains the right to respond “when and where it sees fit”, the Tass report said, quoting the statement.

A video published overnight on a local Moscow news Telegram channel, which appeared to have been shot across the river from the Kremlin, showed what looked like smoke rising over the Kremlin.

According to the text accompanying the video, residents of a nearby apartment building reported hearing bangs and seeing smoke at around 2.30am local time (12.30am BST). It was not possible to independently verify the posted footage.

Shortly before the news about the alleged attack broke, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin issued a ban on using drones in the Russian capital, with an exception for drones launched by authorities.

Sobyanin did not cite a reason for the ban, saying only that it would prevent “illegal use of drones that can hinder the work of law enforcement”.

A legislator who represents Crimea in Moscow, Mikhail Sheremet, told Russian state media that the Kremlin should order a missile strike on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s residence in Kyiv in retaliation for Wednesday’s alleged incident.

Last year, the Kerch Bridge was attacked, which links Russia with the Crimean peninsula. This was a highly symbolic attack against Moscow, as Putin personally opened the £3.5 billion bridge, which links Russia and Crimea.

Three people were killed in the attack on the bridge, which is thought to have occurred with a truck bomb. While Ukraine did not officially claim responsibility, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack was “obviously a consequence of the heinous war that Putin is conducting”.