Agents for Ukraine's secret service tried to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin with a drone carrying explosives Sunday, but it fell short of its target, German newspaper Bild reported Thursday.
The UJ-22 drone, the most modern Ukrainian medium-range drone with a range of nearly 500 miles, took off from Ukraine on Sunday carrying about 37 pounds of C-4 explosives, Bild reported. Its target was a newly built industrial park in Rudnevo southeast of Moscow that Putin was said to be visiting.
Ukrainian activist Yuriy Romanenko, who is said to have close ties to Ukraine's intelligence services, according to Bild, said in a letter claiming responsibility: "Last week, our intelligence officers received information about Putin's trip to the Rudnevo industrial park. Accordingly, our kamikaze drone took off, which flew through all the air defenses of the Russian Federation and crashed not far from the industrial park."
Romanenko tweeted Monday about the attempt, beginning it with "Putin, we are getting closer."
Bild reported several private Russian media outlets said a UJ-22 drone crashed near the village of Voroskogo, east of the industrial park. The drone was said to carry 30 bricks of C-4, a common plastic explosive used by the U.S. Army for demolition.
Bild reported Pavel Zarubin, a propagandist for Putin, said Sunday morning that Putin was planning to "visit an industrial park in Moscow," but did not indicate when. Putin's visits sometimes are conducted the day before they are announced, Bild reported.
But Russian state news agency TASS reported Putin visited the park Thursday and talked about his country's drone program, which he said could be worth up to $12.2 billion. TASS reported unmanned aerial vehicles will be produced at the industrial park, work on which was started in 2020 and completed this year.
There has been no mention in official Russian media about the assassination attempt.
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