Although there is no clear evidence on where these drones are launched from, they "spell trouble for the Russian authorities," Pavel Aksenov of the BBC's Russian service says. "If launched from behind the front line, it implies the weakness of Russian air defences. If the drones were launched within Russian territory, it suggests that the security services lack control over their own country."

The U.S. and other NATO countries made possible an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, Russian officials claimed Tuesday. Russia says the U.S provided intelligence.

The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary force has again criticised the Russian military and political elite following the drone attack on Moscow that injured two people, damaged property and left some furious the Kremlin had not better protected the capital city. In an expletive-drenched statement posted on Telegram by his press service on Tuesday, Yevgeny Prigozhin – whose mercenary fighters have played a key role in the war in Ukraine – blamed the drone attack on out-of-touch officials living in Moscow's affluent suburb of Rublyovka. "You, the Defence Ministry, have done nothing to launch an offensive," Prigozhin said in the statement. "How dare you allow the drones to reach Moscow?" "And what do ordinary people do when drones with explosives crash into their windows?" Focusing his ire on powerful residents of the upmarket Rublyovka area in Moscow's western suburbs, Prigozhin spoke of the "scum" and "swine" who sat quietly while Moscow was attacked.

Speaking on Russian TV, Mr Putin said the attack had been a response to what he described as a Russian attack on Ukraine's military intelligence HQ in recent days. The BBC is unable to independently verify whether any such attack took place.

Layla Guest, an analyst at Sibylline security consultancy, says: "Ukrainian forces will highly likely prioritise targeting oil refineries, as well as railway infrastructure and wider Russian logistics, to cause maximum disruption as part of their strategy ahead of the impending counter-offensive."

Washington, DC – The United States has dismissed as "ludicrous" Russia's claim that it was responsible for a drone attack against the Kremlin, an incident that risks inflaming international tensions. White House National Security spokesman John Kirby denied on Thursday any US involvement in the attack on Wednesday, which Moscow said targeted President Vladimir Putin. Kirby stressed that Washington is not even aware of the details of what happened. The United States had nothing to do with this," Kirby told CNN. "We don't even know exactly what happened here, but I can assure you the United States had no role in it whatsoever." Earlier on Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the US, a key ally of Ukraine, was "undoubtedly" behind the attack.