Video footage shows his Aurus limousine on its way past bystanders to Putin’s seat at 11pm on Saturday. His visit to the Kremlin came after talks with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in St. Petersburg.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Putin had told his counterpart that Moscow would provide Minsk with missile-capable missile systems.
At the meeting in St. Petersburg, Lukashenko expressed concern about the “aggressive”, “confrontational” and “repulsive” policies of neighboring Lithuania and Poland.
Putin’s spokesman did not deny the late-night flight to the Kremlin, but denied that the purpose was a crisis meeting of top officials.
He also denied that Putin would make an immediate emergency statement.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Russian new agency TASS: “No. Everything is not so. Everything is normal.”
However, Mr Peskov did not explain the purpose of Putin’s sudden visit.
In the past, Putin has pre-recorded major announcements in the Kremlin that were later released, fueling suspicions that this may have been the purpose of his late-night Kremlin visit.
Some have suggested that this could possibly lead to an escalation of hostilities in Ukraine.
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Hours after the Kremlin storm, Russian missiles hit an apartment block and nursery school in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
US President Joe Biden condemned the strikes as “barbaric” while world leaders met in Europe to discuss further sanctions against Moscow.
Up to four explosions shook central Kiev in the early hours of Sunday morning in the first such attack on the city in weeks.
Two more explosions were heard later that day on the southern outskirts of the city.
Andriy Yermak, head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration, said: “The Russians have hit Kiev again. Missiles have damaged an apartment building and a nursery school.”
Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s police chief, said on national television that five people had been injured, while Ukrainian police later said one person had been killed.
Life returned to normal in Kiev after fierce resistance held back Russian progress in the early stages of the war.
Although air raid sirens regularly sound over the city, there have been no major strikes on Kiev since early June.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson mocked Putin at the G7 summit in Germany with fellow world leaders.
The prime minister and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau discussed the Russian leader and his history of shirtless photography.
While the sun was shining at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps, Mr Johnson asked if they should keep their suit jackets on.
He asked, “Shall we take off our clothes? … We must all show we are tougher than Putin.”
Mr Trudeau stepped in and suggested a bare-chested horseback ride after Putin was pictured riding a horse without a shirt in 2009.
Mr Johnson then said: “We need to show our photos.”