The Wednesday attack, which was likely to have been targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, was stopped by electronic warfare systems which disabled the drones before they could reach their target.
According to Johnson, the attack must have been spearheaded by the Biden administration and the US military-industrial complex because “decisions on such attacks are made not in Kiev, but in Washington.”
“Washington should understand clearly that we know this,” Johnson told reporters.
Although the attack, which Ukraine denied it was involved in, failed to accomplish its tactical goal, it was still highly “symbolic,” according to Johnson.
“[It] didn’t cause significant damage. The psychological impact, though, there are people that disagree on this, my view is that this is going to galvanize Russia, not create fear or discontent or division. There are others who believe that by doing this, it is going to portray Russia as weak and create internal problems. I simply note that the reactions of former [Russian] President [Dmitry] Medvedev, as well as members of the Duma – they are livid, they are outraged, and calling for escalatory retaliation against Ukraine. So I think in many respects this backfired,” said the former State Department official.
He also added that the attack smacked of desperation and was an attempt to provoke Russia into a major escalation “to get the United States more deeply involved in this conflict.”
“At the same time, I think, Washington correctly notes that they try to discourage this [escalation], because they recognize that it’s spun out of control. And the United States is in no position militarily to confront Russia and survive that confrontation,” Johnson said.
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denounced the attempted drone attack as a dangerous escalation.
“Imagine how we would respond if Russian-backed forces launched a drone strike on the Capitol. We must stop these deranged attempts to escalate the war,” said Kennedy.
“After successfully defusing the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John Kennedy warned against ever again forcing Russia to choose between national humiliation and nuclear war. We should heed his advice,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ukraine continued its drone bombardment by targeting an oil refinery in Krasnodar Region in southern Russia on Friday morning.
A fire broke out, but it was quickly extinguished by authorities and no one was hurt.
US-Russia On Verge Of "Open Armed Conflict" After Kremlin Drone Attack: Foreign Ministry
TYLER DURDEN
On Friday the highest ranking Russian official thus far to have issued a statement on the Wednesday drone attack which targeted Kremlin buildings which house President Vladimir Putin's offices said that the drone operation out of Ukraine was impossible without US foreknowledge.
"It's clear that without the knowledge of their minders, the terrorists from Kyiv could not have carried out (the attack)," Lavrov said while on a trip to India, in reference to Washington.
He followed with: "We will respond with concrete actions." The statements came the day after Putin press spokesman Peskov said such decisions are not "made in Kiev, but in Washington." He asserted that Ukraine is "doing what it is told to do by the US."
While the Biden administration has quickly rejected these accusations, and has downplayed the significance of the whole incident, which Russia called an "terroristic" attempted assassination of a sitting head of state, there's been a flurry of maximalist and fierce statements from various sectors of the Russian government.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said simultaneous to Lavrov's remarks on Friday that US-Russia relations are starring into the abyss, headed towards armed conflict:
"We are working to keep relations with the US from falling into the abyss of an open armed conflict, we are already on the verge, on the edge of this abyss," Ryabkov said on Thursday night in an interview with Russian Pervy TV channel.
Russia and the US maintain contacts, and the problem is in the lack of trust, that Washington defies everything Moscow says as "disinformation," he said.
He followed by saying the US "has long been a direct part to the Ukrainian conflict, waging an open hybrid war." He emphasized: "Ukraine is only a tool in their hands. ... Their goal is to destroy a sovereign, independent Russia as an international factor, they are increasingly tempted to play with the idea of dismemberment of Russia. ... This is a direct encroachment on the foundations of our state system."
Ryabkov then recalled the "destructive role that the US played in events, preceding the 2014 coup in Kyiv" that led to an eight-year long war in the Donbas. "And now, they are trying to pretend that they are only helping Kyiv in its kind of struggle, this is the height of cynicism and hypocrisy," he said.
"We see that the US bets on further escalation and we warn them against it. ... We remind them that the risks have increased many times in recent months," he stressed, saying there's no "magic solution" at this point.
If it was the CIA behind the attack, it was such a failure that those targeted should be laughing at the fact of how unsophisticated the attempt was. The CIA went from executing terrorist generals in a moving vehicle to this type of failure on a head of state. Something just does not add up. It is more like it was planned to fail. Either to provoke a response or some other reason. Always examine theses events and look logically as to all possibilities and then formulate the most likely conclusion. Or if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it probably is a duck or a cgi imitation of a duck meant to confuse.
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