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Russia to respond to Ukraine’s attack on Kremlin when it deems necessary — diplomat

Anatoly Antonov said that it is obvious to anyone how the US would respond to a similar drone attack in Washington: the punishment would be harsh and inevitable
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov Alexander Shcherbak/TASS
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov
© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

WASHINGTON, May 4. /TASS/. Russia will respond to Ukraine’s act of terrorism in the form of an attempted drone attack on the Kremlin when it deems it necessary, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Wednesday.

"How would Americans react if a drone hit the White House, the Capitol or the Pentagon? The answer is obvious for any politician as well as for the average citizen: the punishment would be harsh and inevitable," he said. "Russia will respond to this insolent and presumptuous terrorist attack. We will answer when we consider it necessary. We will answer in accordance with the assessments of the threat that Kiev posed to the leadership of our country."

He stressed that the statements by US officials "are striking in their cynicism and absurdity." "The US did not find it possible to acknowledge what is obvious - it was a terrorist action planned by the Zelensky regime and an assassination attempt targeting the President of the Russian Federation. Moreover, the timing was not chosen by chance - ahead of Victory Day and the May 9 parade, where plans call  for foreign guests to be in attendance," Antonov said. "The theses that this act of terrorism was allegedly a 'false flag operation' are blasphemous and deceitful. That is, [allegedly] it was Russia itself that staged a provocation against the heart of our statehood?!"

According to the Russian diplomat, Moscow hoped that the US administration "would have the guts and dignity to condemn this terrorist act." "The world remembers how, in 2001, the Russian President was the first to lend a helping hand to the American people, who were then subjected to the terrorist attack. Everything is forgotten. Today the United States is shielding the Kiev criminals. The statements of high-ranking officials that Kiev can choose how to defend itself are the textbook example of double standards, a policy of encouraging the Zelensky regime to attack the Russian Federation. The words of the bureaucrats about allegedly deterring the Kiev Nazi regime from hitting targets outside its borders are a false farce," he said.

"The atrocities of the Zelensky regime and the indulgence of it by the West only testify to the fact that our adversaries have no desire to seek peace, to save thousands of lives of ordinary Ukrainians. Definitely, we will take this circumstance into account while working out our strategy to implement the goals and objectives of the special military operation," he warned.

In the night on May 3, Ukraine attempted to use two drones to attack the Kremlin residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin press service reported. The Russian military and special services promptly disabled the drones. Putin was not hurt and continued to work routinely. The Kremlin said that it sees this as a planned terrorist attack and an attempt on the life of the Russian president. Russia reserves the right to retaliate at the right moment and in a way it deems appropriate, it added.