A flying object exploding in an intense burst of light near the dome of the Kremlin Senate building during the alleged Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Russia [Source: Reuters]

Russia accused Ukraine on Wednesday of a failed attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin in a drone attack on the Kremlin citadel in Moscow, and threatened to retaliate.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv had nothing to do with the reported overnight incident.

“We don’t attack Putin, or Moscow, we fight on our territory,” Zelenskiy told a press conference during a visit to Finland, of the war against Russian occupiers.

A senior aide to Zelenskiy called the accusation a sign that the Kremlin was planning a major new attack on Ukraine, at a time of potential turning point in the war as Kyiv prepares to mount a long-anticipated counteroffensive.

Shortly after the Kremlin announcement, Ukraine reported alerts for air strikes over the capital Kyiv and other cities.

Russia said that two unmanned aerial vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin.

“As a result of timely actions taken by the military and special services with the use of radar warfare systems, the devices were put out of action,” a Kremlin statement said.

“We regard these actions as a planned terrorist act and an attempt on the president’s life, carried out on the eve of Victory Day, the May 9 Parade, at which the presence of foreign guests is also planned.”

Fragments of drones were scattered in the Kremlin grounds but there were no injuries or damage, it said.

Putin himself was safe. The RIA news agency said he had not been in the Kremlin at the time, and was working on Wednesday at his Novo Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow.

“The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit,” the Kremlin added.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said the incident “leaves us no option but to physically eliminate Zelenskiy and his clique”.