Earlier this week, the Kremlin announced that it had downed two drones which they claim to have been an attempt on Russian President Vladimir Putin's life.
A top Russian official went as far as suggesting that the United States was behind the alleged assassination attempt, but according to the Washington Examiner, the U.S. strongly denied the allegations, even calling them "ludicrous."
National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby used strong language to rebuke the claim, which originated from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who claimed the U.S. worked hand-in-hand with Ukraine to coordinate the failed drone attack.
"I would just tell you Mr. Peskov's lying. I mean, it's obviously a ludicrous claim. The United States had nothing to do with this. We don't even know exactly what happened here," Kirby said. "But I can assure you the United States had no role in it whatsoever."
Peskove didn't hold back in his accusations against the United States.
"We are well aware that decisions on such actions and such terrorist attacks are not made in Kyiv, but in Washington. And Kyiv is already executing what it is told to do," Peskov said on Thursday. "Such attempts to disown this both in Kyiv and in Washington are, of course, absolutely ridiculous."
Notably, Kirby or any other top U.S. officials have offered any information on the attack, claiming they aren't aware of who or what faction was behind it.
Video footage of the attack was spread across social media earlier this week. Some of the video footage appeared to show a plume of smoke rising from the Kremlin.
JUST IN - Russia says Ukraine tried to hit Kremlin with drones overnight in an assassination attempt on Putin.pic.twitter.com/xAS0BtTDzs
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 3, 2023
The Kremlin initially issued a retaliatory threat in the wake of the attack, saying, "Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory measures whenever and wherever it sees fit."
But many experts believe the attack was a false flag event in order to justify further actions against Ukraine and to rally a war-weary nation that has already experienced significant losses in the war against Ukraine.
Two possibilities:
1. This is the most amateur assassination attempt in modern history (the plan was to fly a drone directly over the Kremlin in order to kill Vladimir Putin?);
2. This is a false flag operation.
Amazingly, either is possible.https://t.co/qf5dgxJJHf— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 3, 2023
The drone attack comes before an expected major Ukrainian counteroffensive to reclaim some of the major territories it has lost over the past year.
Only time will tell, but it still feels like the world is on the hair-trigger of World War III under President Joe Biden.