Russia has threatened to launch a nuclear attack against Ukraine - raising fears of World War Three - after Vladimir Putin was supposedly targeted in an assassination attempt.
Footage showed an object exploding into flames above the Russian President’s residence at the Kremlin.
Putin was not inside the building at the time of the alleged attack, the Kremlin has said.
The 70-year-old was instead at his official residence at Novo-Ogarevo.
Putin was not inside the building at the time of the alleged attack, the Kremlin has said
REUTERSMoscow blasted Kyiv over the strike, describing it as “planned terrorist action”.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky denied Kyiv was behind the Kremlin attack.
He said: “We don't attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We are defending our villages and cities.”
But the Speaker of the Russian Parliament Vyacheslav Volodin appeared to suggest Moscow should launch a nuclear strike against the ex-Soviet state.
Volodin, who is an ally to Putin, raged: "An attack on the President is an attack on Russia.
"There can be no negotiations. We will demand the use of weapons that are capable of stopping and destroying the Kyiv terrorist regime."
Former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also called for the “elimination” of Zelensky following the alleged attack.
He said in a statement: "After today’s terrorist attack, there are no options left except for the physical elimination of Zelensky and his cabal.
A drone attack was launched on the Kremlin last nightN/C"It is not even needed to sign an act of unconditional surrender."
Russia’s nuclear doctrine maintains Putin’s forces can use nuclear forces when the nation’s “very existence” is at risk.
Moscow claimed it downed two unmanned aerial vehicles aimed at the Kremlin.
However, a Russian Telegram channel referred to sources which claimed the event had been staged.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky denied Kyiv was behind the attack on the Kremlin
PAIt said: "Shooting down such objects above the [Kremlin] towers is prohibited by protocol, so reports of downed UAVs are nonsense.
"Or they exploded on their own. Or all this was an exercise, a performance, that they decided to pass off as a real attack.”
Zelensky’s press secretary doubled-down on the Ukrainian President’s response to the attack in the Russian capital.
The spokesman said: "We have no information about the so-called night attacks on the Kremlin.
A Ukrainian service member fires a mortar towards Russian troops in frontline near the Vuhledar town
REUTERS
“But, as President Zelensky has repeatedly stated, Ukraine directs all available forces and means to liberate its own territories, and not to attack others.”
However, leaked spy documents from Kyiv recently revealed Ukraine had plotted to attack Moscow on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Kyiv was eventually persuaded not to go ahead with the plans after Washington warned it could lead to nuclear war.
