Blaine Holt to Newsmax: Assassination Accusations Imperil Kyiv

Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv could be in "grave danger" after Russia's accusations that Ukraine tried to assassinate President Vladimir Putin with drone strikes targeting the Kremlin, retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax on Wednesday.

"Kyiv up to now has been hit and hit pretty hard but not decimated," Holt, a Newsmax contributor, said on "Wake Up America." "The Russians absolutely have that capability, so I'm very concerned. I'm concerned about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant getting into the crossfire here and becoming an altogether new problem."

The Kremlin is calling the alleged attack attempt a "terrorist act" and said Russian military and security forces stopped the drones before they could hit. Holt said that if the reports are confirmed, that would be an "incredibly risky endeavor to take the fight right to Moscow."

"I can only imagine that the unified response out of the Kremlin will be to up the violence and the number of attacks and where they're attacking in Ukraine," Holt said.

Meanwhile, the White House estimates that Russia has had about 100,000 casualties in Ukraine since December, but the Kremlin has rejected that figure. Holt said the accuracy of the report depends on the source of the Pentagon's information.

"I believe they're getting it from Ukrainian sources," Holt said. "I'm not faulting the Ukrainians on this. I'm just saying that when you're trying to estimate what battlefield casualties are and you're on the other side, you don't have a perfect window into that. So maybe it's true. Maybe it's worse. Maybe it's not. But I would be very dubious about that."

Holt added: "What we can say is that tens and tens of thousands have died on these battlefields, and it doesn't look like it's going to change anytime in the near future. We see the Chinese coming in with this diplomatic delegation that is going to put a spin on the ball here as well."

Meanwhile, the West and Europe appear to be losing interest in the war, and that's a "major factor," said Holt.

"You look at the West, and they say, 'Well, we're off of Russian oil,'" he said. "OK, but the Russian oil goes to Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and India. They turned it into diesel, and they sell it to Europe. Just the same. They're not able to push the campaign that they want to push. And so we're going to have to see how this ends.

"Again, where is the diplomacy in this thing? And where are we going to start pushing for negotiations to get to an off-ramp? People should not die in vain."

Holt also on Wednesday discussed Ukraine's counteroffensive, which "has been transmitted out all over the world and certainly has not been missed by the Russian general staff."

"They're checking Ukrainian response times, and they're getting in as many strikes now as they possibly can," said Holt, noting that Russia not only wants to blunt the attack, but with May 8, or the Victory Day Parade for Putin nearing, "he's going to be expected to show progress."

Holt also praised House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for his leadership for vowing continuing support for Ukraine while answering a Russian journalist's questions during a press event in Israel this week.

"It's not about whether he supports a number of blank checks or whatever, but he took the moment to reorient what's really happened here, the senseless brutality and killing of innocent people in this war," said Holt. "Hats off to Speaker McCarthy for that moment to set a record very straight on the international stage."

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