The police of the Russian city of St. Petersburg created a unit to combat drones to detect unmanned aerial vehicles a possible drone attack on the Kremlinat the beginning of this month, according to Reuters.

The unit was reportedly launched on May 9, Victory Day, when a military parade featuring one tank took place in Moscow to commemorate the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The new unit will appear for the first time on Victory Day in St. Petersburg’s Palace Square, the city’s Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.

Its purpose is to “ensure protection of public order” during mass mass events, the head of the department, Roman Uvarov, said in a video message.

The unit will include officers armed with sniper rifles and carbines, teams trained to neutralize drones, and mobile patrols to apprehend suspected drone operators.

Video footage from this year’s Victory Day parade showed heavily armed officers standing on rooftops above Dvirtseva Square, holding drone detection equipment, and groups of snipers patrolling the nearby Neva River in boats.

Russian energy and military facilities have been hit by a wave of drone attacks since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine last year. Kyiv has not officially claimed responsibility for the attacks, but has sometimes hinted at its involvement.

Earlier this month, two drones were shot down over the Kremlin before they were destroyed without causing significant damage to the presidential residence or the Red Square complex.

The Kremlin blames Ukraine and the United States, but both deny involvement.

A video that has surfaced on Russian social media shows a plume of smoke over the Kremlin, and Russian authorities claim that the Ukrainian armed forces attempted to kill President Vladimir Putin using a drone.

Who carried out the attack?

Moscow points to Kyiv for what it considers an “attempted terrorist attack and an attempt on the life of President” Vladimir Putin.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi denies his country’s involvement. “We are fighting on our territory, we are not attacking Moscow or Putin… We did not attack Putin, we leave this issue for consideration by the court,” Zelenskyy said.

One of the advisers to the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak, accused Moscow of “organizing” a “large-scale terrorist attack in Ukraine.”

The head of US diplomacy, Anthony Blinken, said that he perceives “everything that comes from the Kremlin” with great caution.

An expert on Eastern Europe Serhiy Sumlenny blamed Russia for these events, AFP reports.

He cites the Kremlin’s swift confirmation of the incident and the release of surveillance footage from Russian state cameras as evidence that Russia “wants us to see” the event.

Former Russian lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov, suspected of ties to rebel groups in Russia, claims that the drone attack on the Kremlin was the work of Russian partisans, not the Ukrainian military, CNN reports.

According to Ponomaryov, the participants of the partisan unit in Russia are, as a rule, “youth, students, residents of big cities. I know of partisan activity in about 40 cities in Russia,” he told CNN.

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