White House says Russia is lying about U.S. involvement in drone strike

The White House on Thursday forcibly pushed back on Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s accusation that the Biden administration was behind Wednesday’s drone attacks on Moscow.

“One thing I can tell you for certain is that the United States was not involved in this incident in any way, contrary to Peskov’s lies. And that’s just what they are, lies,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

Mr. Kirby said the administration doesn’t have a theory on who was behind the drone attack or why it happened. He said officials are working to get to the bottom of the situation but are not launching a formal investigation.

“It may be that we may never fully understand what happened here,” Mr. Kirby said.

Earlier Thursday, Mr. Peskov said Washington masterminded in coordination with Ukraine the overnight drone attack on the Kremlin and an attempt to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin. The spokesman did not provide any evidence to support the accusation.

“We are well aware that decisions on such a level of terrorist attacks are not made in Kyiv, but in Washington,” he said during his daily briefing with reporters. “Kyiv only does what it is told to do.”

Mr. Peskov also dismissed U.S. and Ukrainian denials of involvement as “absolutely ridiculous.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also denied involvement in the attack.

“We are not attacking Putin or Moscow,” he said at a news conference Wednesday. “We are fighting on our own territory, defending our villages and cities.”