RUSSIA has accused Ukraine of trying to assassinate Vladimir Putin with a drone strike.
The Kremlin said it considered the alleged attack to be a "planned terrorist action" and reserves the right to retaliate.
Authorities in Moscow claim two unmanned aerial vehicles were aimed at the presidential residence, where Putin is known to increasingly live during the war, at about 2.30am.
Extraordinary unverified footage appears to show the moment of a drone striking the Senate Palace, with flames and smoke seen coming from the building.
Residents of Stalinist House on the Embankment said they “saw sparks in the sky and people with flashlights near the Kremlin wall after the thunderclaps”.
The Kremlin said it considered the attack to be a "planned terrorist action" by Ukraine, RIA reported.
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It said two drones had been used in the alleged attack, but were disabled by Russian defences.
Putin, 70, was not in the fortress at the time of the alleged incident, the Kremlin said, and was not injured.
The Kremlin said that the May 9 Victory Day parade would go ahead in Moscow despite the incident, the state-run TASS news agency reported.
But Volodymyr Zelensky’s press secretary cast doubt on whether the strike was by Ukraine.
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The Ukrainian president's spokesman said: "We have no information about the so-called night attacks on the Kremlin."
“But, as President Zelensky has repeatedly stated, Ukraine directs all available forces and means to liberate its own territories, and not to attack others.”
It comes just days after it was claimed Kyiv tried to kill Putin using a drone packed with explosives.
The wreckage of one of Kyiv’s drones was discovered just a few miles from Moscow and it’s believed it either overflew or was circling the Russian capital.
The alleged attacks come after paranoid Putin reportedly ramped up air defence systems around Moscow.
Pantsir-S1 and S-400 defence systems have been positioned on rooftops across the capital, which are designed to intercept missiles and aircraft.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has been suspected of being behind a wave of kamikaze drone strikes on Russian targets including an oil depot and military airfield.
An attack on a headquarters of the FSB spy service and a train are also believed to be the work of Kyiv's forces.
The first attack sent smoke thousands of feet into the air near to Vladimir Putin's prized bridge linking Russia to Crimea, which he annexed in 2014.
The inferno at the port of Taman covered almost 13,000 square feet and almost 85 firefighters were tackling the blaze.
One witness said the attack came at 2am after “there was a sound of hissing in the air, and a drone trace in the sky”.
The attack is the latest in a rising tide of apparent strikes by Ukraine on Russian territory in the war between the two countries.
Kyiv is suspected of being behind a mass drone attack on a Russian military air base in the Bryansk region.
Two drones were shot down using small arms but two exploded on the airfield, with one damaging a giant ‘Ruslan’ An-124 transport plane and putting it out of service, according to Russian media reports.
In another attack, a blast rocked a secret training base of the FSB security service near Simferopol, the capital of Crimea.
Black smoke was seen rising from the facility near Skilne, a short distance from Simferopol airport.
The site is reportedly used by Russian border guards, part of the FSB, and crucial to Putin’s illegal control of a region.
Meanwhile, a freight train made up of 20 oil tanker carriages derailed, also in the Bryansk region, the second track explosion in two ways.
The attack comes just days after Ukrainian forces were believed to have hit an oil depot in Crimea itself.
Ukrainian drones have already crashed near Moscow while Kyiv has been suspected of behind sabotage attacks carried out near the city.
These include explosions and fires at shopping malls as well as energy facilities.
Kyiv plotted an audacious attack on Moscow to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, leaked spy documents have revealed.
The mass strikes were ultimately called off after the United States intervened and warned Kyiv its plan could lead to a nuclear war.
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Ukraine never publicly claims responsibility for attacks in Russia or on Russian-controlled territory.
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