Moscow Pledges Firm Response to Drone Attack on Kremlin

Russia has vowed to retaliate following Wednesday's drone attack on the Kremlin as Sergey Lavrov, the country's Foreign Minister, promised that Russia would respond with "concrete actions."

During a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Goa, India, Lavrov referred to the recent drone attack, which the Kremlin accused Ukraine of carrying out, as a "hostile act."

“It is absolutely clear that without the knowledge of their ‘patrons’ the terrorists in Kyiv could not have committed it,” TASS quoted Lavrov as saying on Friday. “We will respond with concrete actions.”

Lavrov specifically addressed the position of the United States in regards to the incident and emphasized statements made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“[He] said that the US will not dictate to Ukraine the methods of defending its sovereignty. I guess this says it all,” the Russian foreign minister pointed out, recalling Blinken's remarks.

On Wednesday night, two unmanned aerial vehicles were remotely flown towards the domed roof of the Kremlin, but Russian air defenses successfully intercepted and destroyed them. The resulting explosion caused no harm to anyone.

Following the incident, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin issued a decree prohibiting private individuals from using unmanned aerial vehicles within the city's limits.

Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out the drone attack and alleged that the United States orchestrated it. In response, both Washington and Kyiv have denied any involvement and maintained that Ukraine is only engaged in defensive operations.

Some experts have suggested that the drone attack on the Kremlin may have been carried out by Russian dissidents or "local resistance forces" who are opposed to President Vladimir Putin's administration. Others have speculated that the incident could have been a false-flag operation staged by the Kremlin to appear as a real event. However, despite these speculations, the Kremlin and its supporters have maintained that the attack was a "terrorist attack" with the aim of assassinating President Putin.

“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.”

Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, issued a statement on Thursday via her Telegram messaging app, blaming the "creators and curators of the Kyiv regime in Washington, London and NATO" for the drone attack on the Kremlin. Zakharova believes that these entities should be held accountable for the actions of Kyiv.

“They were the ones who destroyed Ukraine’s legitimate government, placed opportunists and thugs at the helm, gave them money and weapons, as well as a feeling of all-permissiveness and impunity, plus a political cover-up and military support,” Zakharova added.