'Putin's helicopter was "at the epicentre" of Ukraine's drone strike'

Russian President Vladimir Putin was allegedly the target of an assassination attempt by Ukraine. A Russian military officer claimed Putin's helicopter was in the "epicentre" of a Ukrainian drone strike in the Kursk region attack on May 20. Russia's Air defence systems intercepted the drone and destroyed it before it could reach the president's flight path, said Russia's air defence unit commander Yuriy Dashkin, according to the Russian news agency RBC. The commander told the news agency that from May 20 to 22, Russia came under a massive drone attack from Ukraine, with the country's air defence "destroying" as many as 1,170 drones. He said that during Putin's visit to the Kursk region on May 20, there was an "unprecedented attack" airstrike from Ukraine, as air defence "shot down" 46 drones. "I would like to point out that the intensity of the attack significantly increased during the flight of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's aircraft over the territory of the Kursk region. Therefore, we were simultaneously engaged in an air battle and ensured the safety of the president's helicopter in the airspace," Dashkin said. The Russian officer claimed that Putin's "helicopter was effectively at the epicentre of the response to the massive drone attack." He said that the drone was detected approaching the flight path of Putin's helicopter and was immediately neutralised by Russia's air defence forces. Putin was in Kursk earlier this week, his first visit to the region since March. No injuries or damage were reported in the incident, and the Russian President's convoy continued without interruption. However, the incident raised concerns about the capabilities of the Ukrainian drone, with Russian authorities probing whether the strike was an attempted assassination or a broader psychological operation by Kyiv.