John Kirby, a spokesperson for White House national security has denied claims that the US was involved in an alleged drone attack on Moscow, describing the allegation as a “blatant, bold lie”. Speaking in response to a drone attack on Moscow on Wednesday, which Russia claims showed evidence of an attempted attack on President Vladimir Putin, Kirby refused speculation as to who was responsible for the two drones.
However, Kirby rejected the claim from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov that the US had worked with the Ukrainian government on the attack, saying: “One thing I can tell you for certain is that the United States was not involved in this incident in any way, contrary to Mr. Peskov’s lies. And that’s what they are, just lies.”
“It perfectly fits in his frame, the framing that President Putin has tried to label this war as,” Kirby said. He pointed to Russia’s increase in attacks in Ukraine, which have included missile strikes that resulted in the deaths of scores of people.
Kirby made it clear that the US is not conducting an investigation into the incident in Moscow, but that officials are monitoring developments.
As been reported by the media, two drones were sighted in the Russian capital, one of which crashed into a government building in what President Putin described as a “provocation”. One drone was detonated and a second was retrieved and publicly displayed by the security services.
The second drone, which was designed to carry a small tank of fuel, a detonator, and ball bearings, was intercepted before it could be armed. The Ukrainian security services denied involvement in the incident.
