Ukraine, EU Officials Dismiss Alleged Attack On Putin Residence
West Palm Beach, Florida : Ukrainian and European officials rejected Moscow’s claims that Ukraine targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal residence with a drone this week; The incident threatens to disrupt US-led peace talks as we enter the new year.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Ukraine tried to attack Putin’s residence in the northern Novgorod region with dozens of drones, adding that Moscow would reconsider its negotiating position as a result.
U.S. national security officials determined that the Ukrainian drone strike did not target Putin or any of his residences, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.
The newspaper reported that this conclusion was supported by a CIA assessment that did not detect any attempt to target Putin or any of his residences. A CIA spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
US President Donald Trump initially expressed sympathy for Russia’s accusation, telling reporters on Monday that Putin had informed him about the alleged incident and that he was “very angry” about it.
On Wednesday, he appeared more skeptical, sharing a New York Post editorial on social media accusing Russia of obstructing peace in Ukraine.
Trump republished the editorial after being briefed on Putin’s allegations by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, a source familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The source declined to disclose any details of Ratcliffe’s briefing.
UKRAINE CLAIMS THAT RUSSIA IS ATTEMPTING TO SABOTAGE THE AGREEMENTS
Ukraine has denied carrying out such an attack and has described the claim as a Russian disinformation campaign aimed at driving a wedge between Kiev and Washington following a meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that both sides described as cordial and productive.
In a detailed briefing distributed by Ukraine to European Union delegations on Tuesday and seen by Reuters, Kiev claimed that Russia’s claims were designed to “sabotage” agreements made during the South Florida meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy.
On Wednesday, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas described Russia’s claims as a “deliberate distraction”.
“No one should accept the unfounded claims of the attacker, who has been targeting Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilians indiscriminately since the beginning of the war,” he wrote to X.
There was no independent confirmation of the attack as of Wednesday. But Russia’s accusations and the response from Europe and Ukraine have underlined how both sides are trying to shape Trump’s view of the war in Ukraine, which has now raged for nearly four years.
Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO who served as special envoy for Ukraine talks during Trump’s first term, said “there is no evidence” that Putin is seeking peace and wants Ukraine to succeed, as Trump suggested after his meeting with the Russian leader last weekend.
“All the evidence points to the contrary,” he added.
The Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The White House did not immediately respond.
RUSSIA PUBLISHED A VIDEO SHOWING THE FALLING UAV
On Wednesday, Russia’s defense ministry released video footage showing a senior officer, Major General Alexander Romanenkov, detailing how Moscow said it believed Ukraine had attacked Putin’s Novgorod residence.
The video showed a Russian soldier standing next to parts of a device he said was an unshot down Ukrainian Chaklun-V drone carrying a 6kg explosive.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry rejected the footage, saying it was “absolutely sure” no attack had taken place.
Before Lavrov made his accusation on Monday, Novgorod Governor Alexander Dronov said air defense and warplanes had shot down Ukrainian drones.
While Trump said Monday that the attack may have been a Russian deception operation, he at times appeared willing to accept Putin’s controversial statements at face value.
Earlier this year, Trump repeated Putin’s claims that Russian forces had surrounded Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, even though US intelligence indicated this was not true.
The controversy over the alleged Ukraine attack also comes as some Western intelligence officials quietly claim that Russia is trying to delay additional punitive moves designed by Washington to pressure Moscow into a peace deal.
Reuters was unable to determine whether the U.S. intelligence community had conducted an assessment of the alleged attack or presented relevant findings to Congress.
UKRAINE CLAIMS COORDINED COMMENTS BY OFFICIALS
In a Ukrainian briefing document seen by Reuters, Kiev noted that various Russian officials made extremely similar public comments in the hours after the alleged attack, and that, in Ukraine’s view, preliminary coordination between officials in Moscow was suggested.
The newspaper also noted that residents of the town near Putin’s residence in Novgorod told local media that they did not hear any sound from the air defense on the night of the alleged attack.
Russia’s defense ministry has issued inconsistent statements regarding Ukraine’s alleged drone strikes.
In a statement published on its channel on the Telegram messaging platform late Sunday, the ministry said 89 long-range Ukrainian attack aircraft were captured across the country between 7 a.m. the previous day and 11 p.m. that evening.
It was stated that these included 18 people shot in the Novgorod region, but it was not claimed that anyone was involved in the attack on Putin’s residence there.
On Monday afternoon, the ministry issued a second statement saying that air defense had intercepted 91 UAVs between Saturday and Sunday, all heading towards Putin’s residence, including the 41 shot down in Novgorod.
