U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Ukrainian spies or military intelligence may have been behind the drone attacks on the Kremlin this month. A New York Times report said so recently.
The attack appears to be part of a series of covert operations that have made US officials uncomfortable, the report said. Because the country is the largest supplier of military equipment to Ukraine.
The New York Times claims that the US assessment is based on the blocking of Russian and Ukrainian communications.
The United States blocked talks with Ukraine in which officials said they believed their country was responsible for the attack. Russian communications were tapped indicating that this was not some sort of orchestrated operation by Russia.
Asked about the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: ‘We immediately said that the Kiev government was behind it. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter which unit of the Kiev government is responsible. The Kiev government was behind it, we know it, we are aware of it and we will gradually move forward with that in mind.’
U.S. officials say they don’t think Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed off on all the covert operations. It is not clear how much advance notice he had of such operations, officials were quoted as saying.
Russia has accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin in the attack. Zelensky immediately denied any Ukrainian involvement.
The Kremlin also said the US was behind the drone strike. Washington dismissed the claim as ridiculous.
(May 25)