Wolodymyr Selensky has to be eliminated, says the Russian chief of security

Moscow has no choice but to "eliminate" Wolodymyr Selenskyj after a suspected drone attack on the Kremlin, said the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council.

"After today's terrorist attack, there are no more options, except for the physical elimination of Selenskyj and his cabal," said Dmitri Medvedev in a message on his Telegram channel.

Videos divided on social media showed how a drone hit the dome of the Senate Palace in the Kremlin and caused a fire before another drone exploded above the building.

Russia quickly referred to the incident as a “assassination attempt” on Vladimir Putin, while Mr. Selenskyj denied that the Ukraine is behind the explosions.

"We did not attack Putin. We leave it to the court. We are fighting on our territory, we defend our villages and cities," said the Ukrainian president at a press conference with Nordic leaders in Helsinki.

Details of the alleged attack first appeared on Wednesday in the early morning at a neighborhood group on Telegram, where users shared two videos that showed a white cloud of smoke that rose over the palace at night.

residents of a apartment block on the other side of the river from the Kremlin to have heard an explosion, "which sounded like a thunderstall.

CCTV recordings, which were later published by Russian state television, later showed the moment of impact.

The Kremlin said that the "Kiev regime" tried to attack Putin's official residence in the Great Kremlin Palace, and claimed that the drones had been out of action with "Radar War Funding Systems".

"We consider these actions as a planned terrorist act and an attack on the life of the president," said a spokesman.

The Russian President was outside of Moscow during the attack in another of his residences.

The alleged attack, which took place less than a week before Moscow's annual victory parade, followed a number of other incidents in Russia - including train sabotage and explosions in tankers.

"We consider these actions as a planned terrorist attack and an assassination attempt on the president shortly before the parade on the day of the victory, at which foreign guests are expected," said Dmitri Peskow, spokesman for the Kremlin, and added that plans for the day of the victory were not provided.

The Kremlin promised to take revenge on Wednesday and said that Moscow “reserves the right to react in the form of benefits in kind, where and when it considered it necessary”.

'False flag

Mykhailo Podolyak, one of the closest consultants Wolodymyr Selenskyjs, denied that Kiev had ordered the attack and indicated that it could be an operation under "False Flag" to justify further attacks on Ukraine.

He said that Kiev attack on the Kremlin was "extremely disadvantageous from the perspective of preparing our offensive measures" and would only serve to "provoke Russia to even more radical actions".

Mark Galeotti, a well-known Russia analyst, said that the Kremlin was "pretty well protected", but "not a real bunker".

He said it could have been a "performative blow" of Ukraine, "a Demonstration of skills and a declaration of intent: 'Do not believe that Moscow is safe'.

The attack on the heart of the Russian capital caused Russia's ultra -nationalists who had previously scolded that Putin was too gently to the Ukrainians to bloodshed.

The spokesman for the Russian Parliament compared the government of Mr. Selenskyj to terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda or the Islamic State, while Igor Girkin, a former commander of the Ukrainian separatists, asked Putin to start a devastating blow against Ukraine.

"The last time the enemy bombed Moscow was in 1942," he wrote on Telegram to his 800,000 subscribers.

"It is time to awake and seriously fight them to destroy the infrastructure, to destroy the Ukrainian state."

Sergei Markov, a former Putin-friendly MP who is known to channel thinking in Russian establishment, said on Wednesday, "The whole world" observed the Russian reaction, but admitted that there was no good options for Moscow.

Russia would not attack any goals outside of Ukraine, as it fears that a third world war, while a devastating attack on Kiev would destroy a “Russian city”, he suggested.

In view of other humiliating Ukrainian attacks in the past, such as the bombing of the Crimean Bridge, Putin has rejected claims for a tough answer.

The lack of determined measures would further promote the growing frustration in Russian establishment that Putin left it, say Kremlin observer.

"This will tighten the crisis of Putin's political leadership: people (who work for the Kremlin) need protection and they see that they don't get it. This fear is real and even more frightening for many people than Ukrainian drones," said Tatyana Stanovaya, head of the political analysis company R.politik, to the Telegraph.

"It is very likely that Putin will again show no willingness to give a robust answer."

But for the general public, the drone attack on the Kremlin could continue to cement the idea of the Russian victim role propagated by the Kremlin and underpin Putin's argument that Russia and not Ukraine are attacked.

"Society relies on the government as the only thing that can protect it from an external threat, and the more direct this threat is, the more likely it is that people rely on the government," said Ms. Stanovaya.

Putin has residential quarters in the Kremlin, a historical fortress in the heart of Moscow, which houses his administration, the Kremlpalast, in which official ceremonies are held, and UNESCO World Heritals, which are accessible to tourists, but he usually lives in the Residenz Novo-ngaryovo west of Moscow.

The Senate Palace, which houses Putin's official “work residence”, takes a special place in Russian history.

The flag of the Soviet Union was reduced in December 1991 over this 18th century building to mark the dissolution of the Soviet Union.