Ukrainian and European officials have rejected Moscow’s claims that Ukraine targeted a personal residence of Russian president Vladimir Putin with a drone attack this week, an incident that threatens to disrupt US-led peace negotiations heading into the new year.
On Monday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov alleged that Ukraine had tried to attack Putin’s residence in the northern Novgorod region with dozens of drones, adding that Moscow would review its negotiating position as a result.
US national security officials have found that Ukraine did not target Mr Putin or one of his residences in a drone strike, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
The paper reported that the conclusion was supported by a CIA assessment that found no attempt to target Mr Putin or one of his residences.
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US president Donald Trump initially expressed sympathy for the Russian charge, telling reporters on Monday that Mr Putin had informed him of the alleged incident and that he was “very angry” about it.
By Wednesday, he appeared more sceptical, sharing on social media a New York Post editorial accusing Russia of blocking peace in Ukraine.
Ukraine has denied it carried out such an attack, describing the allegation as a Russian disinformation campaign meant to drive a wedge between Kyiv and Washington after a meeting between Mr Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy that both sides described as cordial and productive.
In a detailed briefing paper that Ukraine distributed to European Union delegations on Tuesday, Kyiv alleged the Russian allegations were designed to “sabotage” agreements made during the south Florida meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskiy.
On Wednesday, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, called Russia’s claims “a deliberate distraction.”
“No one should accept unfounded claims from the aggressor who has indiscriminately targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilians since the start of the war,” she wrote on X.
As of Wednesday, there was no independent confirmation of the attack. But Russia’s charges – and the European and Ukrainian reaction – underscored how both sides have sought to shape Trump’s view of the war in Ukraine, now nearly four years old.
“There is no evidence” that Mr Putin seeks peace and wants Ukraine to be successful, as Mr Trump asserted last weekend after speaking to the Russian leader, said Kurt Volker, a former US ambassador to Nato who served as special representative for Ukraine negotiations during Mr Trump’s first term.
“All evidence is to the contrary,” he added.
The Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The White House also did not immediately respond.
On Wednesday, Russia’s defence ministry released video footage showing a senior officer, Maj Gen Alexander Romanenkov, setting out details of how Moscow says it believes Ukraine attacked Putin’s Novgorod residence.
The video included footage of a Russian serviceman standing next to fragments of a device that he said was a downed Ukrainian Chaklun-V drone carrying a 6kg explosive device, which had not detonated.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry dismissed the footage, saying it was “absolutely confident” no attack took place.
Before Mr Lavrov made his accusation on Monday, Novgorod governor Alexander Dronov said air defence and fighter jets were shooting down Ukrainian drones.
While Mr Trump has said the attack could have been a Russian false flag operation, he has at times appeared willing to accept controversial statements by Mr Putin at face value. Earlier this year, Mr Trump repeated Mr Putin’s assertions that Russian forces had encircled Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, even as US intelligence indicated that was not true.
The debate over the alleged Ukrainian attack also comes as some western intelligence officials have quietly argued Russia has sought to delay additional punitive moves by Washington designed to force Moscow into a peace deal. – Reuters
