Russia claims Putin targeted in drone assassination attempt, as videos circulate online

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Russian video purports to show drone shot down over Kremlin

Video appeared to show a drone being shot down over the Kremlin Wednesday, in what Russia says was an assassination attempt against President Vladimir Putin. (Ostorozhno Novosti)

Russian government officials are claiming Ukrainian forces attempted to kill President Vladimir Putin with a failed drone attack.

Officials say two drones were used in the "assassination attempt" at the president's residence within the Kremlin compound, but were disabled by Russian defense systems.

No injuries or damage to the residence was reported. Putin was seen in video and photos released Wednesday meeting with a regional governor outside Moscow.

The Kremlin called the incident a "terrorist action" and threatened retaliation against Ukraine in reports from state media outlet RIA.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen Wednesday, May 3, 2023. A drone is purportedly shot down over the Kremlin. (AP/Ostorozhno Novosti)

"The Kremlin has assessed these actions as a planned terrorist act and an assassination attempt on the president on the eve of Victory Day, the May 9 Parade," RIA said.

Unconfirmed videos have begun circulating online appearing to show a drone being shot down over the Kremlin, and smoke rising in Moscow.

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"We are looking into the report but aren’t able to validate its authenticity at this time," a U.S. official told Fox News. The U.S. did not have any advance knowledge or indication of the purported incident, Fox News has learned.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday he could not "validate" the reports, and that "we simply don't know."

"I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt," Blinken said at a World Press Freedom forum with The Washington Post. "So let's see. We'll see what the facts are."

"More generally, as I've said, and as we've said, when it comes to Ukraine, which is under daily assault, and not just it's incredibly courageous military forces, but its citizens, its men, women and children being assaulted on a daily basis by this Russian aggression, being bombed out of their homes, their apartments, their streets, children killed, families torn apart," he said. "We leave it to Ukraine to decide how it's going to defend itself and how it's going to try to get back the territory. It's been seized from illegally by Russia over the past 14 months and going back to 2014."

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Gleb Nikitin, during their meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow Wednesday, May 3, 2023. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Office of the President of Ukraine advisor Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed the drone incident as a false flag meant to justify retaliation.

"Russia is clearly preparing a large-scale terrorist attack. That's why it first detains a large allegedly subversive group in Crimea. And then it demonstrates 'drones over the Kremlin,'" Podolyak wrote on social media.

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"First of all, Ukraine wages an exclusively defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation. What for? This does not solve any military issue. But it gives RF grounds to justify its attacks on civilians..." he continued. "Secondly, we are watching with interest the growing number of mishaps and incidents that are taking place in different parts of RF. The emergence of unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles at energy facilities or on Kremlin’s territory can only indicate the guerilla activities of local resistance forces."

Ukrainian presidential spokesperson Serhii Nykyforov similarly denied Ukrainian involvement in the alleged drone attack.

The Grand Kremlin palace, left, and the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Moscow. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"It’s too early to tell who is behind the purported drone attack and whether the attempted attack actually did happen. If Ukraine did do it, it would be viewed by Russia as massive escalation, allowing Putin to obliterate Kyiv, including Zelenskyy’s residence," former Defense Intelligence Agency officer Rebekah Koffler told Fox News Digital.

She continued, "The way the article is written has signs of Russian disinformation. Versions of this article are all across Russian media, which indicates to me that the Kremlin has approved publishing it. If it is a Russian "active measure", the goal would be provocation, to provoke, laying the groundwork and the pretext for a "retaliation" which the article mentioned specifically."

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Koffler warned against rushing to conclusions, saying there is also a small chance of an unknown third party seeking to escalate the conflict.

Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich and Nicholas Kalman contributed to this report.