Russian state television showed an image of President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in the Kremlin on Thursday, his first appearance since an alleged drone attack that Moscow says was an assassination attempt by Ukraine, AFP writes.

State television showed Putin’s talks with Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, saying the meeting took place in the Kremlin.

At the time of the attack, Putin was at his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo near Moscow, where he spends most of his time.

Also on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Vladimir Putin reacted “calmly” to the incident with the Kremlin drone and that even in extreme situations, he “always maintains clarity, focus and clarity in his assessments and the orders that convey them.”

He also said that Moscow reserves the right to retaliate, but did not say what form it might take. Peskov noted that Russia has several options and that the answer, when it comes, will be carefully analyzed and balanced. He said an urgent investigation was underway but could not say when the results would be known.

On Friday, Putin will take part in the meeting of the Security Council

Peskov added that the meeting of the Security Council is scheduled for Friday, and not in response to the alleged drone attack.

“As planned, tomorrow, on Friday, the president will have an operational meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council. It is planned, so it will be. Of course, we can assume with a great deal of confidence that this topic will be considered,” said Peskov.

He did not comment on answers to journalists’ questions about whether Russia now considers Volodymyr Zelensky a legitimate military target.

We will remind you that a column of smoke can be seen above the Kremlin on a video that appeared on Russian social networks, on Wednesday the Russian authorities accused the Ukrainian armed forces of trying to kill President Vladimir Putin with a drone.

The nighttime video was initially posted early Wednesday on Telegram by a group of residents of the block across the Moscow River from the Kremlin, and was later picked up by Russian state media.

Later, a video of the impact also appeared on social networks:

“The Kyiv regime tried to strike the Kremlin residence of the President of the Russian Federation with unmanned aerial vehicles. Two unmanned aerial vehicles were heading towards the Kremlin,” the Kremlin said in a statement, indicating that the drones were shot down “as a result of timely actions by the military and special services using combat radar systems.”

Ukraine denies its involvement.

Moscow accuses Washington of an alleged assassination attempt on Putin

On Thursday, Moscow blamed Washington for the alleged attack on Putin, arguing that US officials should have known that Russia knew the US was selecting targets and Ukraine was only carrying out plans.

“Attempts to debunk it both in Kyiv and in Washington are, of course, completely ridiculous. We know very well that decisions regarding such actions, such terrorist attacks are not made in Kyiv, but in Washington,” said Peskov.

He argued that the United States often chooses both the targets that Ukraine should attack and the means of attack: “It is also often dictated from across the ocean. We know it well and are aware of it… In Washington, we must clearly understand that we know it.”

Russia’s claims that the United States is behind an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin are false, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.

Kirby also told MSNBC that the United States does not encourage or allow Ukraine to attack beyond its borders.