Russia said it thwarted two drones in an attack to assassinate President Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s Kremlin Tuesday night, blaming Ukraine without evidence and threatening retaliation for what some on social media described as a false flag operation lacking in credibility.

Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov dismissed the attack allegations, saying, “We have no information about the so-called night attacks on the Kremlin,” Bloomberg reported. The Kremlin’s claim was “an attempt to escalate the situation before May 9,” Nykyforov said, referring to the Victory Day holiday that Russia celebrates with a military parade in Red Square.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was not home in the Kremlin at the time of the attack, according to RIA Novosti. However, the Kremlin called the assault “an attempt on the life of the president,” and Russia “reserves the right to take retaliatory measures when and where it considers necessary.” 

The drones were disabled and crashed without causing injuries or damage, the presidential press service said in a statement. There was no way to verify the alleged attack. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied responsibility for what Russia called an assassination attempt against Putin.

“We don’t attack Putin or Moscow,” Zelensky said during a news conference in Helsinki, adding that Ukraine didn’t have enough spare weapons for 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 said. “For us that is the deficit, we can’t spend [waste] it.”

Social media users had questions like this one: “How was security so lax as to allow Ukrainian drones into the heart of Moscow anyway? That’s a major lapse. This is either a major security failing or an extremely miscalculated propaganda attempt.”

Biggest question is, how was security so lax as to allow Ukrainian drones into the heart of Moscow anyway? That’s a major lapse.

This is either a major security failing or an extremely miscalculated propaganda attempt.

— C.🇺🇦🇵🇸 (@_CRutd) May 3, 2023

Others called it a false flag — a hostile act designed to look like it was perpetrated by someone else — such as: “FalseFlag to cover potential May 9th cancel” and “False flag, through and through.”

“Just another Russian op,” @AnitaPeck11 tweeted. “They are trying to rid themselves of Putin and blaming it on Ukraine.”