Lavrov vows 'concrete actions' in response to Kremlin drone attack

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov says Wednesday's drone attack on the Kremlin was a “hostile act”, pledging that Russia will respond with “concrete actions”.

"It was clearly a hostile act, it is clear that the Kiev terrorists could not have committed it without the knowledge of their masters," Lavrov told a press conference on Friday in India, on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization ministerial meeting. 

"We will not respond by talking about 'casus belli' or not, we will respond with concrete actions," he said.

A Latin term, “casus belli” refers to an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A casus belli involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring war.

In the early hours of Wednesday, two drones exploded over Putin’s residence at the Kremlin’s citadel overnight after being disabled by electronic defenses,

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Ukraine for the attack, saying Kiev had acted on US orders with the attack.

"Attempts to disown this (attack on the Kremlin), both in Kiev and in Washington, are, of course, absolutely ridiculous. We know very well that decisions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, are made not in Kiev but in Washington," Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy denied the accusations saying, “We don’t attack Putin, or Moscow”, and the US has dismissed the Russian claim.

Wednesday’s attack came as Ukraine appears to have increased its drone attacks on Russia, as it mostly targets oil refineries.

Ukraine has continuously declined to claim responsibility for such attacks on Russia or Crimea, but officials in Kiev have frequently celebrated the attacks.

Previously, Ukraine had demonstrated the ability to strike deep inside Russian territory, in one instance using drones to hit a strategically important airbase near Ryazan, a city around 240 kilometers from Moscow.

On Friday, a fire broke out at an oil refinery in southern Russia, Russian state-run news agencies reported.

Agencies gave conflicting reports about the cause of Friday's blaze at the oil refinery's reservoir in the southern Krasnodar region's Ilsky settlement.

"The fire was contained even before the arrival of emergency services... It reached 60 square meters (645 square feet)," the local emergency services were cited as saying by Interfax.

Russian state-run agency TASS, citing a source in the emergency services, said the fire was due to another drone attack.

State agency RIA Novosti cited another source in the emergency services, saying the fire broke out after fuel reignited from Thursday's attack.

On Thursday, an attack by "an unidentified drone" caused a first fire at the same reservoir, TASS reported.

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