Kiyv: Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, expressed confidence that Vladimir Putin would be found guilty of war crimes on Thursday, and the Kremlin claimed that the US was responsible for an assassination attempt against the Russian leader.

Throughout the conflict that Russia started when it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the nation's leaders have repeatedly attacked one another personally. The most recent incident occurred on Wednesday when Russia claimed that Ukraine had used drones to attack the Kremlin in Moscow with the intention of assassinating Putin.

Zelensky refuted the theory that the alleged drone attack was carried out by Ukrainian forces. The Kremlin threatened vague retaliation in response to what it described as a "terrorist" act, and pro-Kremlin figures demanded the murder of senior Ukrainian officials.

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It's still unclear exactly what transpired during the alleged attack. On Thursday, Putin's spokesman charged American involvement. Moscow has frequently attempted to blame Washington for attempting to destroy Russia through its assistance to Ukraine in order to increase domestic support for the war.

The Kremlin is "well aware that the decision on such actions and terrorist attacks is not made in Kyiv, but in Washington," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a daily conference call. Without providing any proof for his assertion, Peskov said, "And then Kiev does what it is told to do."

A spokesperson for the US National Security Council at the White House, John Kirby, called the claim "ludicrous." In the Netherlands, Zelensky declared that he was "not interested" in the Kremlin's viewpoint.

Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelensky's top advisor, asserted on Thursday that Russia had "staged" the alleged drone attack. He cited "simultaneous video from different angles" that appeared to show the aftermath of the alleged 2:30 a.m. attack and the delay in Russian state media reporting it.

The Institute for the Study of War in Washington also observed staging. The think tank stated that Russia "likely staged this attack in an effort to bring the war home to a Russian domestic audience and set the stage for a wider societal mobilisation."

As a result of recent Russian security measures, it is "extremely unlikely that two drones could have penetrated multiple layers of air defence and detonated or were shot down just over the heart of the Kremlin in a way that provided spectacular imagery caught nicely on camera," according to the ISW.

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Zelensky urged the international community to hold Putin accountable in The Hague, where the ICC is based, and told the ICC judges that Putin "deserves to be sentenced for (his) criminal actions right here in the capital of the international law."

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March for alleged war crimes, including the kidnapping of children from Ukraine. It was the first time a warrant for one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council had been issued by the international court.

After visiting Finland the day before, Zelensky travelled to the Netherlands. Finland, which joined NATO last month amid worries about Moscow's long-term goals, increased its border with Russia by two times the size.

During his visit, the Ukrainian president also pressed the leaders of Belgium and the Netherlands to send cutting-edge warplanes so that his nation could bring "justice to the battlefield." Since the war's start in February 2022, Zelensky has been successful in assembling sizable Western military and political support for Ukraine's defence.

Zelensky travelled in an armoured car and a plane provided by the Dutch, and security was tight at his public appearances. In the newest demonstration of the Western might marshalled against Putin, he is anticipated to travel to Berlin, the capital of economic powerhouse and member of the European Union, next week.

Zelensky's travels have been beneficial. Ukraine received heavy artillery and tanks after visiting Washington in December and then London, Paris, and Brussels in February.

Putin's chances of being tried in The Hague, however, are slim. The court that prosecutes people for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression lacks an enforcement unit to carry out its warrants. The head of Russia is unlikely to visit any of the 123 countries that are ICC members and are obligated to detain him if they are able to.

Ukraine's military asserted that three Russian drones that struck the southern city of Odesa early on Thursday bore the words "for Moscow" and "for the Kremlin" written on them, seemingly indicating that they had been sent in retaliation for the alleged Kremlin strike.

For the third time in four days, an aerial attack was launched against Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. A total of 18 of the 24 Iranian-made drones that Russian forces launched in various regions were intercepted by Ukrainian air defences. There were no casualties reported.

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In what appeared to be a series of attacks on fuel depots behind enemy lines, drones in Russia struck two oil facilities in southern regions close to Ukraine, according to Russian media on Thursday.

According to reports from the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti and law enforcement sources, four drones attacked an oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, which borders the Crimean peninsula that Russia has annexed. According to reports, another facility was hit in the Rostov region.