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Russia blamed the United States on Thursday for an apparent drone attack on the Kremlin, doubling down on Washington’s accusation of “direct involvement” in the war in Ukraine.
Dmitri S. Peskov, the spokesman of President Vladimir V. Putin, repeatedly told reporters at a daily conference that the United States was behind the episode in the Kremlin. Video footage verified by The New York Times showed two explosions in the Kremlin early Wednesday, an incident Russia described as a Ukrainian drone strike on Mr. Putin’s Kremlin residence. Ukraine has denied involvement.
Mr. Peskov claimed Thursday that the United States was responsible for the attack because it provided targeting information to Ukraine.
“We know that decisions about these actions and terrorist actions are not made in Kiev, but in Washington,” Mr. Peskov said. “Kyiv then did as he was told.”
The White House quickly denied Mr. Peskov’s allegations. On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday morning, John F. Kirby, the White House spokesman, dismissed the Kremlin’s accusations and said that “Peskov is just a liar, pure and simple.”
“I can assure you that there is no United States involvement in this,” Mr. Kirby said. “Anyway, it doesn’t involve us.”
Leaked secret Pentagon documents show that while the US military is indeed providing data on battlefield targets to Ukraine, US officials have been working to prevent Ukraine from launching a provocative attack on Moscow. And American officials warned Ukraine about the August killing of Daria Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian ultranationalist, which American intelligence agencies believe was orchestrated by part of the Ukrainian government.
Mr. Kirby said on MSNBC that the United States had not determined who was behind Wednesday’s incident, and “we still don’t know what happened.” But he stressed that the White House does not support Ukraine’s attack on Russia.
“We certainly do not dictate to them the conditions that they defend themselves,” said Mr. Kirby from Ukraine. “However, we have been clear with them publicly and we have been clear privately that we do not support, or allow, them to attack outside of Ukraine.”
But Mr. Peskov stressed on Thursday that Ukraine’s denial of involvement in Wednesday’s incident in the Kremlin, and America’s denial that it had known about it, “is absolutely laughable.” He described the United States as engaged in direct war — a claim the Kremlin has made before.
“We know this very well,” Mr Peskov said, after insisting that the United States “dictated” to Ukraine the target of the attack. “It is very important that they understand in Washington that we understand this, and that they understand how dangerous direct involvement in the conflict is.”
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