Curfew in Kherson Ukraine. Moscow is talking about targeting a warehouse near Crimea

The Kremlin announces the foiling of a Ukrainian attempt to assassinate Putin with two drones. And Kiev denies

From left: Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christersson, Denmark's Mette Frederiksen, Ukrainian and Finnish presidents, Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir and Norway's Jonas Gär Storr during the summit in Helsinki. A.B

The Kremlin announced yesterday that it had shot down two drones launched by Ukraine, and accused Kiev of attempting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Kiev was quick to deny, saying it did not attack Moscow or the Russian president.

While Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces again launched more than 24 drone attacks across the country, and authorities announced a curfew in the city of Kherson, Russian authorities said a huge fire broke out at a fuel depot in southern Russia, near Crimea.

In detail, the Russian presidency announced yesterday the downing of two drones sent by Kiev in the Kremlin area, which led to the fall of the remnants of these aircraft in the region.

According to the Russian news agency Sputnik, the Kremlin confirmed that the attack on President Vladimir Putin's residence was a planned terrorist act and an attempt to assassinate the head of state.

The press service said that the Kiev regime tried on Tuesday night to hit the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin with two drones, adding: "We consider these actions a planned terrorist act, an attempt to assassinate the President of the Russian Federation on the eve of Victory Day, and a military parade on the ninth of May, where the presence of foreign guests is also planned." The Russian presidency said a major military parade on May 9 to celebrate victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 would be held in Moscow despite the attack.

The Kremlin said in a statement carried by Russian state news agencies that there were no casualties. The Kremlin added that President Vladimir Putin was safe and continued to work according to his agenda unchanged. "Two drones targeted the Kremlin, and as a result of the defensive measures taken by the army and special security services in a timely manner using radar systems they were disabled," the Kremlin statement read. "Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory action against Kiev's attempt to strike the Kremlin, wherever and when it deems appropriate," the Kremlin statement added.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied yesterday Moscow's accusation that Kiev tried to assassinate the Russian president. Zelenskiy told reporters at a joint news conference with his Nordic counterparts in Helsinki: "We are not attacking Putin or Moscow. We leave that to the court. We fight on our lands and defend our villages and cities."

On the ground, Ukrainian authorities said yesterday morning that Russian forces again launched more than 24 drone attacks across the country on Tuesday night - Wednesday.

According to the Ukrainian General Staff, a total of 26 drones were launched from the Bryansk region and the eastern shore of the Sea of Azov. It said air defenses intercepted 21 drones, including those that targeted Storm Kiev.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities announced yesterday a curfew in Kherson near the front line in the south for 58 hours from Friday evening, as Kiev says it has completed preparations for a large-scale offensive.

The head of the local military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram: "From 20.00 (17.00 GMT) on May 06, a curfew will be imposed in Kherson and will last until 00.03 am (00.<> GMT) on May <>."

"During these 58 hours, movement on the streets of the city will be prohibited, and exit and entry into Kherson will be prohibited."

The authorities' announcement comes as Kiev said its preparations for a large-scale offensive to retake Russian-held territory in the east and south of the country were "coming to an end".

Russian authorities said a huge fire broke out at a fuel depot in southern Russia near Crimea in the Black Sea yesterday, as reports of attacks on infrastructure on Russian soil increased.

The fire broke out after a drone attack on the facility, Russia's TASS news agency reported, citing local emergency services.

According to a source in the rescue services quoted by the official news agency TASS, the fire was caused by "the fall of a drone."

On the other hand, Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that the next meeting between officials of Turkey, Russia and Ukraine next Friday is "important" to extend the grain agreement.

Bloomberg news agency quoted Kalin as saying that if no consensus is reached, "grain shipments may stop on May 18."

The deputy defense ministers of Turkey, Russia and Ukraine are scheduled to meet later this week to discuss the extension of the grain corridor agreement, Turkey's Anadolu Agency quoted Defense Minister Hulusi Akar as saying.