White House dismisses ‘ludicrous’ Russian claims US planned Kremlin drone strikes

The White House has dismissed as "ludicrous" claims by Russia that Washington orchestrated drone strikes on Moscow, saying the US was not involved in the attack and accusing Russia of lying.

Asked about an accusation by the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, that Washington had ordered Wednesday's strike, John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesman, said: "One thing I can tell you for certain is that the US did not have any involvement with this incident, contrary to Mr Peskov's lies, and that's just what they are: lies."

He said the US was still gathering evidence on the attack.

"We haven't come to any conclusions one way or another," Kirby told reporters at the White House on Thursday. "We're doing the best we can to try to find out what happened."

Earlier on Thursday, Peskov claimed the US had "dictated" the plan of what Russia said was a drone attack on the Kremlin intended to kill Vladimir Putin. Peskov did not provide any evidence to support the allegations.

Peskov said: "We are well aware that decisions on such actions, on such terrorist attacks, are not made in Kyiv, but in Washington. And Kyiv is doing what it is told to do. It is very important that in Washington they understand that we know this, and understand how dangerous such direct participation in the conflict is."

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and other Ukrainian officials have denied Russian allegations that Ukraine was involved in a drone attack on the Kremlin that was intended to kill Putin.