Russia Denies Zelensky's Claims of Planned Strikes on Kyiv

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky claimed that Russia is allegedly planning to deliver strikes on decision making centers in Ukraine to divert attention from the domestic corruption scandal, said Leonid Slutsky, the head of the State Duma committee on international affairs and leader of the LDPR Party.

"As he maintains a wall of silence over the case of his accomplice [ex-head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office Andrey] Yermak, the Ukrainian fuehrer today decided to stun the world community with news of highly classified Russian plans, allegedly obtained by him, to strike decision making centers in Kiev," the senior Russian lawmaker argued on his channel on Max. "Why is this show? Obviously, to divert the attention - both externally and domestically - from the shame of the Ukrainian authorities," he wrote.

Or else Zelensky may be trying to create a background for yet another "terrorist provocation, possibly not against Russia alone," Slutsky warned.

On May 11, charges of laundering 460 million hryvnias ($10.5 million), linked to an elite residential development in a Kiev suburb, were brought against Yermak. Four private residencies were meant for Yermak, former Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Chernyshov, businessman Timur Mindich, and Zelensky himself.