Russia 'likely staged' Kremlin drone attack, claims ISW

Russia "likely staged" the alleged drone strike on the Kremlin, according to the Insitute for the Study of War (ISW). 

Moscow claimed on Wednesday it foiled a Ukrainian assassination attempt against President Vladimir Putin, promising retaliation over the supposed "terrorist attack".

Ukraine denied any involvement. 

However, the US-based think-tank claimed Russia itself is behind the incident, calling it an attempt to "bring the war home to a Russian audience and set the conditions for a wider societal mobilisation". 

"Several indicators suggest that the strike was internally conducted and purposefully staged," it wrote in a briefing published on Thursday. 

Footage circulating on social media shows what appears to be a drone exploding near a flagpole on top of the Kremlin Senate Palace, with two unidentified people climbing on top of the building. 

Russia said Putin was unharmed as he was not there at the time of the alleged assassination attempt. 

Other security experts have cast doubts on Moscow's story, with some suggesting it may have been staged for international viewers. They questioned why Russia would want its own people to know it could not intercept a small drone until the very last minute. 

"I have some serious question[s]," said Former Swedish Prime Minister, Carl Biltd. "Is it really realistic - if the drone was from far away - that no air defence could have intervened until right above the Kremlin itself?"

In its briefing, the ISW noted that Russia has recently beefed up its domestic air defences, including over Moscow. 

"It is therefore extremely unlikely that two drones could have penetrated multiple layers of air defence and detonated or been shot down just over the heart of the Kremlin in a way that provided