Lawmakers have labeled the attempted strike an act of \u201cstate terrorism\u201d and a bid to disrupt peace efforts<\/p>\n
Russian officials have denounced a Ukrainian drone attack on President Vladimir Putin\u2019s state residence as an act of \u201cstate terrorism,\u201d\u00a0saying it sought to sabotage ongoing peace efforts between Moscow and Washington.
\nMoscow revealed late on Monday that the Ukrainian military had fired a barrage of 91 long-range kamikaze drones overnight at Putin\u2019s residence in Novgorod Region. All of the UAVs were downed by air defenses. The Kremlin said the \u201creckless terrorist actions\u201d by Ukrainian forces \u201cwill, naturally, not be without consequences, [without] the most serious response.\u201d US President Donald Trump said he was \u201cvery angry\u201d about the attack. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has strongly denied the attack. \u00a0Here\u2019s what Russian officials say about the incident.
\nMaria Zakharova, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Sputnik \/ Sergey Guneyev <\/p>\n
Commenting on media reports that Zelensky has tried to distance himself from responsibility for the attack, Zakharova wrote on Telegram that his earlier statements on events such as the massacre of civilians in the town of Bucha near Kiev and allegations about \u201cchildren allegedly stolen by Russia\u201d were \u201clies.\u201d\u00a0
\nThose lies include \u201cZelensky\u2019s statements about the alleged unwillingness of the Russian side to conduct negotiations,\u201d she wrote, adding that the \u201cKiev regime\u201d will answer for all of its crimes.
\nLeonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee<\/p>\n
Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Sputnik \/ Yevgeny Biyatov <\/p>\n
Slutsky, who leads the LDPR party, called the strike on the presidential residence \u201can act of state terrorism\u201d and a demonstration of the \u201cagony and complete degradation of the Zelensky regime.\u201d He claimed that the European \u201cparty of war\u201d was its \u201cdirect accomplices.\u201d\u00a0
\nHe argued that \u201cthe handwriting of the terrorists does not change,\u201d linking the raid to previous episodes he described as provocations around earlier rounds of negotiation. Slutsky told RT the latest attack came \u201cafter the actual failure of Zelensky\u2019s plan in Florida in talks with [US President Donald] Trump\u201d and amounted to \u201ca provocation not only against Russia, but also an undermining of the American side\u2019s peace efforts.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0
\nSergey Mironov, chairman of the A Just Russia \u2013 For Truth party<\/p>\n
Sergey Mironov, chairman of the A Just Russia \u2013 For Truth party<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Global Look Press \/ Bulkin Sergey\/news.ru <\/p>\n
Given the number of drones involved, the strike on Putin\u2019s residence is not a warning and not an attempt to put pressure within the framework of negotiations, but an attempt at the Russian president\u2019s \u201cphysical elimination,\u201d Mironov said.
\nHe described the attack as \u201can act of desperation by the Kiev dictator Zelensky and his regime,\u201d claiming that they had been \u201cdriven into a corner\u201d and that \u201cthe only way out is capitulation.\u201d
\nMironov argued that Kiev was unlikely to have acted alone, saying he was \u201csure\u201d that \u201ctheir European masters\u201d had given the green light. He called for \u201cdecisive actions,\u201d including a strike not only on Ukraine\u2019s military machine but also on its \u201cterrorist leadership,\u201d and reiterated his view that the conflict should be given the status of an anti-terrorist operation.
\nAleksey Zhuravlev, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee<\/p>\n
Aleksey Zhuravlev, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Sputnik \/ Kristina Kormilitsyna <\/p>\n
Zhuravlev said the incident showed that Kiev \u201cwill stop at nothing in order not to end the war,\u201d and that Ukraine\u2019s leadership was not constrained \u201cby moral principles or any rules of warfare.\u201d He argued that their \u201cterrorist activity will only increase\u201d and that they would try to strike \u201csignificant targets.\u201d\u00a0
\nThe leader of the Rodina (Motherland) party stated that it was \u201clong overdue\u201d to respond at least symmetrically against the main government buildings in Kiev, including Zelensky\u2019s office on Bankovaya [Street],\u201d which he noted had remained untouched \u201csince the very beginning\u201d of the conflict. \u00a0
\nDmitry Belik, member of the State Duma\u2019s International Affairs Committee <\/p>\n
Dmitry Belik, member of the State Duma\u2019s International Affairs Committee<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Sputnik \/ Maksim Blinov <\/p>\n
Belik told RT that the drone raid amounted to \u201can attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack against the conclusion of peace.\u201d Kiev\u2019s leadership was seeking to \u201cdisrupt peace efforts and complicate the negotiation process,\u201d he said, accusing the Ukrainian authorities of choosing \u201cthe path of terror and violence\u201d instead of constructive dialogue and compromise. \u00a0
\nVitaly Milonov, State Duma deputy<\/p>\n
Vitaly Milonov, State Duma deputy<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Global Look Press \/ Russian State Duma Photo Service\/Global Look Press <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ukrainian terrorist regime is ready for any escalation in order to keep the bloody meat grinder running, grinding up its own people to preserve power for an illegitimate leadership,\u201d Milonov said.
\nHe argued that the raid \u201ccrosses out Russia\u2019s generous and patient attitude\u201d to options for ending the conflict, but \u201cdoes not mean\u201d that Moscow would leave the negotiating process. The attack on Putin\u2019s state residence is \u201ca slap in the face of the US and President Trump, who are trying to find a dignified way out of the deadlock for the Kiev junta,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lawmakers have labeled the attempted strike an act of \u201cstate terrorism\u201d and a bid to disrupt peace efforts Russian officials have denounced a Ukrainian drone attack on President Vladimir Putin\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t