According to U.S. officials, Ukrainians were likely behind the drone attack at the Kremlin on May 3, The New York Times reported.
"U.S. officials," the Times wrote, "said the drone attack on the Kremlin earlier this month was likely orchestrated by one of Ukraine's special military or intelligence units, the latest in a series of covert actions against Russian targets that have unnerved the Biden administration."
The report comes after a number of outlets suggested the attack was a Russian false flag orchestrated by Moscow to make further developments in the war — including the use of nuclear weapons and the expansion of the war beyond Ukraine's borders.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who spoke following the attack in Red Square, said the U.S. was to blame.
"Moscow knows that Kyiv chooses the means and targets for strikes under Washington's direction," Peskov said the day after the attack, according to U.S. News & World Report. "Attempts to deny this — both in Kyiv and in Washington — are, of course, absolutely ridiculous."
But the Times reported that the likely attack was carried out by a rogue unit untethered to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Officials told the Times, "American spy agencies see an emerging picture of a loose confederation of Ukrainian units able to conduct limited operations inside and outside Russia, either by using their own personnel or partners working under their direction. Some of these missions could have been conducted with little, if any, oversight from Mr. Zelenskyy."
The Times reported that officials believe the Ukrainians could also be responsible for the "assassination of the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, the killing of a pro-Russian blogger," and the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines.
"American officials similarly view the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines ... as the work of pro-Ukrainian operatives whose ties to the Ukrainian government have yet to be determined," the Times wrote.
In February, Pulitzer-winning journalist Seymour Hersh reported that it was the U.S. — not Russia or the Ukrainians — that was responsible for the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines.
"On September 26, 2022," Hersh wrote, "a Norwegian Navy P8 surveillance plane made a seemingly routine flight and dropped a sonar buoy. The signal spread underwater, initially to Nord Stream 2 and then on to Nord Stream 1. A few hours later, the high-powered C4 explosives were triggered and three of the four pipelines were put out of commission."
The Times sums up its report, adding that "U.S. officials have also publicly denied enabling or encouraging the cross-border attacks and say they do not support the use of American equipment in such operations. The Biden administration does not want Moscow to think that the United States is complicit in the attacks.
"The administration's fears that Russia will use nuclear weapons, or expand the conflict outside Ukraine, have eased, for now at least, and the Ukrainians have continued to conduct covert operations on Russian soil despite U.S. reservations."
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