May 3, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

A former Russian lawmaker linked with militant groups in Russia claims the recent drone attack on the Kremlin is the work of what he calls Russian partisans, not the Ukrainian military. 

Ponomarev, who now lives in exile in Ukraine and Poland, was the only Russian MP to vote against the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and has since been included on a list of terrorist suspects, according to the Russian authorities. 

On Wednesday, the Kremlin accused Ukraine of being responsible for two drone attacks on the Kremlin. 

In a statement, the Kremlin said, “We view these actions as a planned terrorist attack and an assassination attempt,” adding that “Russia reserves the right to take countermeasures wherever and whenever it deems appropriate."

According to Ponomarev, members of partisans group inside Russia are usually "youngsters, students, residents of large cities. I am aware of the partisan activity in approximately 40 cities across Russia," he told CNN. 

"All partisan groups have their own focus, their speciality, their core knowledge. Some of them are focussed on railroad sabotages, some of them are doing arson of military recruitment posts. Some of them are doing attacks on pro-war activists, some of them are doing hacking attacks," he said. 

According to Ponomarev, the drone attacks inside Russia are a "new line of operation" for the groups, which he says pose a “real threat."

"What Putin is selling to the nation and especially to the elites is the feeling of invulnerability and security. And partisans are ruining both. They are actually saying the war is here and you guys, you personally, are not safe," Ponomarev said.

Ukraine has denied any involvement in what Russia claims was an attempted drone strike on the Kremlin.

"Ukraine wages an exclusively defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian Presidential Office, in a statement shared on Twitter.

"We are watching with interest the growing number of mishaps and incidents that are taking place in different parts of Russia. The emergence of unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles at energy facilities or on Kremlin’s territory can only indicate the guerrilla activities of local resistance forces," he added. 

The US Embassy in Ukraine warned Wednesday of “an ongoing heightened threat of missile attacks,” including in Kyiv.

In the alert, the embassy urged Americans “to observe air alarms, shelter appropriately, follow guidance from local authorities,” and take actions like immediately seeking shelter inside or going to the lowest level of their buildings “with the fewest exterior walls, windows, and openings; close any doors and sit near an interior wall, away from any windows or openings.”

“If you hear a loud explosion or if sirens are activated, immediately seek cover,” it advised.  “Be aware that even if the incoming missile or drone is intercepted, falling debris represents a significant risk,” the alert said. “After the attack, stay away from any debris.”

The US government has repeatedly warned Americans to leave Ukraine and not to travel there amid the ongoing war with Russia.

Prior to Wednesday's alert, the US Embassy had not issued a security alert since February 23, the day before the one year anniversary of the start of the war.

Moscow launched a new wave of attacks across Ukraine on Wednesday. At least 21 people were killed in the southern Kherson region, according to Ukrainian officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out at Russia after he said at least 21 people were killed by shelling in the southern Kherson region. 

Zelensky added that at least 48 people were also wounded and sent his condolences to the families and friends of those affected. 

“We will never forgive the culprits,” he vowed. “We will defeat evil state and hold all the perpetrators to account."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new $300 million security assistance package for Ukraine Wednesday.

The top US diplomat said it is the 37th drawdown of US arms and equipment for Ukraine.

Here's what is included in the package and its capabilities, according to a statement released by the US Department of Defense:

Earlier Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the package comes after "extensive work by the US government over the past few months to fulfill Ukraine's requests ahead of its planned counteroffensive and ensure they have the weapons and equipment they need."

The White House said it will continue to work with allies to support Ukraine.

Previewing this aid package earlier this week, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby suggested the new package would be "very much focused on ammunition and clearing capabilities" to give Ukraine "what they need to break through Russian defenses."

"They will be ready," Kirby said.

It is “too early” to say whether Russia’s claims of a Ukrainian attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin amount to a “false flag” operation, the White House said Wednesday, adding that it would not speculate about the veracity of Moscow’s claims.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said the US was not taking any steps that would help Kyiv from striking inside Russia.

She added, “I don't want to get into speculation from here about the authenticity of this report."

Earlier, US officials said it had no advance warning of the drone attack in Moscow. American agencies were urgently working to assess Russia’s claims.

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky denied earlier that his country had staged an attack on Putin.

Asked about the prospect of a Russian “false flag” operation, which the US has warned of previously, Jean-Pierre said it wasn’t prudent to speculate.

“It is really too early to tell, as you asked me, about a false flag,” she said. “But obviously Russia has a history of doing things like this.”

The Russian approach to nuclear deterrence is defensive in nature, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said on Wednesday during a briefing for military attachés.

Fomin also said that steps should be taken to ensure the security of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. Those steps would be in response to the escalation by NATO, where Russian demands to end US and alliance tactics were rejected, he said.

The deputy minister "assessed the US actions to deploy nuclear weapons in Europe, as well as joint activities with NATO to prepare and conduct nuclear missions with the participation of the air forces of states that do not possess nuclear weapons," the statement said, “Russian demands, for an end to such practices and the withdrawal of American nuclear weapons to the national territory, were rejected by the United States and its NATO allies."

Widespread Russian shelling in the southern frontline city of Kherson and neighboring territories caused at least 17 deaths and 26 injuries, according to the Ukrainian parliament commissioner for human rights.

"These are civilians whose fundamental right to life has been deprived by Russia," the commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, said on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.

Lubinets accused Russia of purposefully targeting civilians. 

"The aggressor country is targeting residential buildings, shops, public transport stops, railways with precision missile strikes," he wrote. "These are crimes for which the aggressor must be punished! This is terrorism against the civilian population!"

Earlier, the Kherson region prosecutor’s office said 16 people had died, as it announced a war crimes investigation.

Local authorities reported at least four different separate incidents of Russian shelling hitting civilian infrastructure.

According to Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson region military administration, one landed at the Epicenter supermarket in Kherson. Additionally, he said a rocket hit a team of engineers who were performing emergency repair work near the village of Stepanivka. Artillery also struck the areas of Mykhailivka, Havrylivka, Tiahyntsi, and Tokarivka, "killing a 47-year-old man in the yard of his own home, and wounding a 61-year-old local resident in Ivanivka," he said.

Another shell also hit the Kherson city railway station. According to Ukrainian railways, Ukrzaliznytsia, a passenger car was hit.

"At the time of the shelling, boarding had not begun, and passengers were in safe shelter," the rail company said. "Currently, the train to Lviv with 116 passengers on board departed from Kherson with a 14-minute delay. The cars damaged by the shelling will be promptly replaced at Mykolaiv station."

"Rescue services are working at the scene," Prokudin added. "We notice that in the last two weeks there have been more attacks with different weapons, especially with the guided aerial bombs."

The Kremlin has yet to present physical evidence supporting the Russian government’s claim Wednesday that it foiled an attempt by Ukraine on President Vladimir Putin’s life with a drone attack, although videos have surfaced that purport to show the attack — including what appears to be the shooting down of a drone — and its aftermath. 

CNN analysis of video showing the incident supports the Kremlin’s claim that two drones were flown above the Kremlin early Wednesday, but CNN found no evidence of Ukrainian involvement. 

Here's what CNN knows so far about how events unfolded: A video that appeared to show smoke rising from the Kremlin, which was geolocated by CNN, surfaced on a local neighborhood Telegram channel at 2:37 a.m. local time Wednesday. The first reports of the incident citing the Kremlin came via Russian state media TASS and RIA around 2.33 p.m. local time — around 12 hours later. 

Shortly after the first media reports, another video appearing to show the moment a drone exploded above the Kremlin began circulating widely on social media. In the video, the drone appears to fly toward the building’s domed roof, followed by what looks like a small explosion. In this video, two people appear to be climbing on the dome holding flashlights and can be seen ducking down just before the moment of the explosion. The people climbing the drone are not present in the first of these videos, but appear in the second, suggesting they were responding to the fire caused by the first drone at the time the subsequent drone appeared. 

CNN has analyzed videos shared by the Russian state-run channel TVC that appear to show there were two separate drones from different directions within minutes of each another, based on the times displayed on the nearby Spasskaya tower clock. The first drone was spotted over the Kremlin at 2:27 a.m. local time. It exploded over the Senate Palace, after which a fire broke out on its roof. The second drone was recorded at 2:43 a.m., and its fragments fell on the territory of the Kremlin. While the first drone caused a fire at the top of the dome, the second didn’t, appearing instead to explode in the air.  

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov did not mention the incident Wednesday during a routine weekday call with reporters at around 12:30 p.m. local time, roughly two hours before media reports emerged. 

Ukraine has denied any responsibility for the alleged attack, with Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak telling CNN that Ukraine has "nothing to do with drone attacks on [the] Kremlin."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied that his country was responsible for what Russia says was an assassination attempt against Russian President Vladimir Putin, after an apparent drone attack on the Kremlin. 

"We don't attack Putin or Moscow," Zelensky said during a news conference in Helsinki.

The Ukrainian president said that Ukraine didn’t have enough weapons to spare on incidents like this.

"We fight on our territory, we are defending our villages and cities. We don't have enough weapon[s] for this. That's why we don't use it anywhere [else]," Zelensky explained. “For us that is the deficit, we can't spend [waste] it.”

“We didn't attack Putin. We leave it to tribunal,” he said.