Vladimir Putin targeted by ‘assassination attempt with kamikaze drone’

The wreckage of one of Kyiv’s drones was discovered just a few miles from Moscow earlier this week and it’s believed it either overflew or was circling the Russian capital.

The UJ-22 drone was found in woods in the Noginsk area and its location is closer to Moscow than any previously disclosed Ukrainian attack drone.

Police said it was stuffed with 17kg of Canadian M112 explosive charges.

But it’s now been claimed the drone was on a mission to kill Vladimir Putin, who was on a visit to a newly built industrial park just a few miles away on Sunday.

The claim has been made by a Ukrainian activist Yuriy Romanenko who tweeted “our intelligence officers received information about Putin‘s trip to the industrial park in Rudnevo”.

He maintains that prompted Ukraine to launch a “kamikaze drone, which flew through all the air defences of the Russian Federation, and fell not far from the industrial park”.

Yuriy Romanenko, the co-founder of Ukrainian Institute for the Future, added that when news of the drone attack filtered back, he changed his schedule and stayed in his Kremlin office.

“Considering how much Putin is obsessed with his own security, this story could have huge implications for the Kremlin,” he said.

Romanenko describes himself as a “political expert” and it‘s been reported he has ties to Ukrainian intelligence.

Putin is now scheduled to visit the site on Thursday, Russia‘s TASS news agency reports.

Ironically, he will tour an exhibition held by drone manufacturers and hold a meeting on the development of unmanned aircraft.

The drone was reportedly discovered by a local woman, 35, who went into the woods to bury her dead kitten.

Explosive experts worked at the site where the drone crashed for five hours to make safe the explosives, according to Russian state media reports.

From the early days when they were used to hold up Russian forces near Kyiv, Ukraine has employed drones to deadly effect throughout the war.

But as well as knocking out Russian tanks with spectacular effect, Ukraine appears to using drones to take the battle into the heart of its enemy‘s territory.

Moscow is around 280 miles from the closest point in Ukraine in a straight line but has so far not been directly hit though Kyiv appears to be continually trying.

The drone appears to have evaded the capital‘s air defences which have been massively strengthened in recent weeks.

It may have crashed among trees after running out of fuel, according to Russian sources, although its supposed flight route and target are unclear.

If proven to be a Ukrainian military drone, it would confirm Russian fears that Moscow is vulnerable, despite the huge deployment of air defences around the city.

Ukrainian drones also appeared to sow panic in St Petersburg as the airspace around Russia’s second largest city was closed.

It comes as leaked spy documents have revealed Ukraine plotted an audacious attack on Moscow to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

The mass strikes were ultimately called off after the United States intervened and warned Kyiv its plan could lead to a nuclear war between the West and Russia.

The plans for the February 24 attack on Moscow by Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence, were revealed in classified documents seen by the Washington Post.

Ukraine’s intelligence boss Major General Kyrylo Budanov instructed his officers to prepare for “mass strikes” with “everything HUR had”, the National Security Agency documents reveal.

As well as attacks on Moscow, the Ukrainians also mulled over hitting the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

But officials in Washington appear to have gotten wind of the plans and became anxious they could have sparked a wider military clash.

Initial attempts to persuade the Ukrainians appear to have been unsuccessful after it emerged Ukraine’s SBU security service also had plans to attack Moscow.

Then two days before the attack would have gone ahead, the CIA said the HUR “had agreed, at Washington’s request, to postpone strikes”.

While Ukraine held off from an attack on Moscow to mark Russia‘s invasion, just after the anniversary, a Russian airbase was rocked by massive explosions following a suspected drone strike.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission