Like a panicked soldier under fire, Russia is shooting in all directions — accusing America for a drone hit that obliterated its flag atop the Kremlin, calling for the assassination of President Zelensky, and, an old favorite, threatening a nuclear attack. 

“Did you hear that? They just announced that missiles are incoming and that everyone should seek shelter,” a writer for Kyiv Post, Jason Smart, told the Sun as a siren could be heard faintly through the phone line. “Seemed like it landed in the stadium,” Mr. Smart wrote in a text minutes later. 

The siren ended a discussion about a rumor that swept the country earlier in the day: A Twitter user with more than 143,000 followers, Igor Sushko, was translating a Russian YouTube reporter who broadcast alleged ongoing preparations for a Russian nuclear attack against Ukraine. The YouTuber, identified only  as Osechkin, was live-streaming what he described as the process of loading nuke-laced missiles onto Russian fighter jets. 

Mr. Sushko, a Ukraine-born American, made clear that he was merely reporting what Osechkin was saying, and that he was skeptical President Putin would indeed make the leap into a nuclear war. “If Putin were to order a nuclear strike, he’d be removed in a coup,” he wrote. 

Yet, the thread continued. Osechkin’s report included names of Russian air force units and pilots, some of whom reportedly hesitated to carry out the mission. “Osechkin is letting the pilots know that no tinted windows will protect them if they commit these war crimes,” one of Mr. Sushko’s tweets read. 

Then came the final blow to the YouTube live broadcast, and to Mr. Sushko’s twitter thread that described it. “Osechkin just ended his multi-hour fairytale session by saying maybe he got it all wrong and apologizing before hanging-up,” Mr. Smart tweeted. “It was all fantasy.”

Mr. Smart said later that though the broadcast proved false, the rumors it floated nevertheless quickly spread around Kyiv. Of course, Russia has long used the specter of a nuclear attack to intimidate Ukraine and its Western supporters. 

Wednesday’s drone attack on the Kremlin, meanwhile, is a mystery. While many at Kyiv and Washington suspect a Russian false-flag operation meant to rouse anti-Ukrainian emotions and increase domestic support for the war, others saw it differently. 

The humiliation involving a pinpoint attack on the Russian emblem flying over the dome of the country’s center of power could very well point to Ukraianians. If so, they’re likely unaffiliated with the government, which has denied involvement. The attack could have also been perpetrated by Russians opposing Mr. Putin and his war strategy.

When asked if we would ever know who launched the drone attack, the national security council’s spokesman, John Kirby, simply shrugged, indicating that America was at a loss for answers.

Drivers around Russia, meanwhile, were reportedly getting lost, as the authorities scrambled satellite signals. The move was intended to interfere with drone controls, but it also incapacitated GPS navigation systems installed in most modern cars.

As opposed to those in Washington, Moscow officials sounded decisive. “After today’s terrorist attack, there are no options left but the physical elimination of Zelensky and his clique,” a former Russian president, Dimitry Medvedev, said, adding Kyiv will soon lose even if its president doesn’t sign an article of surrender. “Hitler, as we know, didn’t sign one either,” Mr. Medvedev said.

Other Kremlin officials seemed intent on drawing America into a direct confrontation. Washington’s attempts to “disown” the drone attack “are, of course, absolutely ridiculous,” Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters Thursday. “We know very well that decisions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, are made not in Kyiv but in Washington.”

“Peskov is just lying,” the NSC’s Mr. Kirby retorted on MSNBC. Washington has made clear to Kyiv that “we don’t encourage nor do we enable strikes outside Ukraine,” he said.  

Also on Thursday, Mr. Zelensky popped up at Hague, urging prosecution of Mr. Putin on war crimes charges. “We all want to see a different Vladimir here in the Hague, the one who deserves to be sentenced for these criminal actions,” Mr. Zelensky said. “And I’m sure we will see that happen when we win — and we will win.”   

Even as Mr. Smart was ducking missiles at Kyiv, he said the tide of war indeed seems to be favoring Ukraine. The Russians, he said, are extremely concerned about reports of a coming Ukrainian offensive, in which an emboldened Ukrainian army could aim at Crimea this spring.

As the world was guessing about the origins of Wednesday’s Kremlin drone stunt, a Ukrainian drone was intercepted by Russia near one of its air force bases, at Sevastopol, Crimea.

As Moscow’s May 9 commemoration of its victory in World War II nears, it is attempting to portray itself as fighting giants like America and NATO. In reality, it is failing to cope with tiny Ukraine.