Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russia denounces “state terrorism”; Zelenskyy denies “complete fabrication designed to justify additional attacks against Ukraine”.
Russia accused Ukraine of having attempted to attack, during the early hours of Monday, President Vladimir Putin’s residence in the north of the country.
Speaking this Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Ukraine launched 91 long-range drones against the presidential residence located in the region of Novgorod.
According to Lavrov, cited by , all the aircraft were shot down by Russian anti-aircraft defenses, with no injuries or material damage reported. Following what he described as an act of “state terrorism”, the head of Russian diplomacy said that Moscow would review its negotiating position, although he guaranteed that it would not abandon talks on a possible peace agreement.
Lavrov further added that targets had already been selected for retaliatory attacks by the Russian armed forces, warning that the alleged offensive will not go unanswered.
It is unclear, however, whether or not Putin was at the Dolgiye Borody residence, historically associated with Soviet and Russian leaders. On the same day as the alleged attack, Putin reportedly instructed the army to intensify the campaign to take full control of the Zaporizhia region, after a Russian commander said that Moscow’s forces were 15 km from the largest city in the area.
Ukraine denies
Kiev immediately rejected Moscow’s version, classifying it as false and politically instrumental.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied the accusation and said it was a “complete fabrication” aimed at undermining the negotiations and preparing the ground for possible Russian attacks on government buildings in Kiev.
“It is a complete fabrication designed to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kiev, as well as Russia’s own refusal to take the necessary measures to end the war. These are typical Russian lies. Furthermore, the Russians have already attacked Kiev in the past, including the Cabinet of Ministers building,” the Ukrainian president said on the X social network.
This is why Moscow accuses Kiev of carrying out attacks of this nature. At the beginning of May 2023, he had already accused the Ukrainians of trying to assassinate the Russian President, in an attack with drones that would have targeted the headquarters of the Russian Presidency. The German newspaper Bild had revealed a week earlier that a drone loaded with 17 kilos of explosives, allegedly intended to shoot down Vladimir Putin, crashed outside Moscow. Ukraine also denied responsibility for this attack.
Remember that one of Zelenskyy’s Christmas wishes this year was precisely .
“Since ancient times, Ukrainians have believed that on Christmas Eve the heavens open. And if we tell them our dream, it will come true. Today, we all share a dream. And we make a wish — for all of us,” Zelenskyy said. “May he perish, each of us can think to ourselves”, he added, in a statement widely understood to be directed at the Russian leader.
