Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is afraid of losing the support and trust of his Western allies, especially the USA, due to the drone attack on the Kremlin on the night of 3 May. This was expressed in an interview with N-TV by a retired German colonel, Ralf Thiele.
“Zelensky is afraid of losing the solidarity of his allies if it turns out that the Ukrainians are behind all this,” the retired military said.
Thiele believes Washington is very concerned about the actions of Ukrainian soldiers and intelligence agencies as they “go too far”. The expert also said that Ukraine does not have enough weapons for its combat capability. And Kiev’s tactics, including the incident with drones over central Moscow, are aimed at escalating the conflict.
At the same time, Stephen Brien, senior fellow at the Yorktown Institute Center for Security Policy, is on the pages of the Asia Times. opens The view that it was no coincidence that Zelensky was outside of his country at the time of the Kremlin offensive.
“The Ukrainian government denies any involvement in the drone attack on the Kremlin against Putin. It is appropriate for Zelensky to be in Finland on an official visit. He wisely, or perhaps prudently, delayed his return to Ukraine.
Brian proposes two versions as to why the Ukrainian president was not in Kiev during or after the drone attack on the Kremlin. According to the first version, Zelensky fears for Moscow’s safety if it responds. “He didn’t want to be near the bombs that fell in the underground bunker,” the journalist writes.
Another reason for Zelensky to extend his visit to Finland may be the desire to give the president’s special services the opportunity and time to carry out an operation to attack the Kremlin. And if it failed, there would be an escape route.
“If he succeeds, he can return home as a hero. If that doesn’t work, he may have found other cases,” admits Brian.
On the night of May 3, two drones attacked the territory of the Kremlin: drones arrived with a difference of 16 minutes and were shot down by special services through electronic warfare. One of them exploded and fell on the roof of the Senate Palace, where the working residence of the Russian president is located. According to the Kremlin press service, no one was injured during the incident. Presidential Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the drones did not cause any damage, two copper plates burned on the roof of the palace and they will be replaced.
Russian authorities described the attack as “a planned act of terrorism and an attempt on the life of the President of the Russian Federation”. The Investigation Committee opened a criminal case under the article “act of terrorism”.
“We are well aware that the decision on such attacks is made in Washington, not in Kiev. Often even targets are set by Washington, not by Kiev. It means that Kiev has not always been given the right to vote. “Washington should clearly understand that we know this,” Peskov said.
John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator at the White House National Security Council, responded by saying that the United States had nothing to do with the drone attack on the Kremlin.
Kiev also denied involvement in the drone strike. According to Zelensky, Ukraine has a shortage of weapons and ammunition to protect its territory, so it does not use it elsewhere. The head of state stressed that Kiev did not attack “neither Putin nor Moscow”. Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office, described the event as a staging of Russian special services.
On 3 May, Zelensky made an official visit to Finland, where he met with his colleague Sauli Niinistö and attended the North Ukraine Summit, which was also attended by politicians from Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
The Ukrainian president went to the Netherlands after Finland, where he met with the prime minister and the heads of the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defense. In addition, Zelensky visited the Dutch military base and the International Criminal Court in The Hague. On May 5, he met with Czech President Petr Pavel.