The Kremlin announced on 29 December that Ukraine had attempted to assassinate President Vladimir Putin using a large-scale drone strike on his state residence in the Novgorod region.
Moscow officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, alleged that 91 long-range drones were launched and intercepted before reaching their target, describing the incident as an escalation by Kyiv and proof of hostile intent during US-mediated peace negotiations.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence released imagery it said showed debris from a downed Ukrainian drone fitted with explosives. Officials claimed to have recovered routing data indicating a flight path toward a presidential residence and stated that the material would be provided to Washington as evidence.
Ukraine rejected the story outright, calling it a fabrication intended to disrupt talks and justify future Russian operations. Ukrainian officials framed the allegation as a disinformation effort timed to influence international opinion and pressure Western partners. Several European governments issued similar assessments, describing the accusation as strategically timed and unsupported by available information.
By 31 December, US intelligence agencies had assessed that the strike had not targeted Putin or any of his residences, according to an exclusive by The Wall Street Journal. The paper reported that a Central Intelligence Agency review found no evidence of an assassination attempt. Some US officials suggested Ukraine may have been operating drones against a separate military objective in the same region, though this has not been confirmed publicly and open-source reporting has not independently verified that claim.
Initial comments from US President Donald Trump, following a conversation with Putin, appeared sympathetic to Moscow’s account. After subsequent briefings from US intelligence, his public stance shifted toward scepticism, with the President reportedly warning that elements of the Russian narrative risked obstructing ongoing peace efforts.
Happy New Year!
Ukraine must be concerned at all 91 of its drones on this attack being shot down….unless it is Russian fake news of course!
Your starter for ten:
You are President of something or other, maybe a golf club.
You notice that a certain country’s leader has directed the invasion of another country twice within ten years having previously promised to respect that country’s territorial integrity and having further repeatedly stated that they had no intention of invading that country ever, whatsoever, at any stage, ever, ever. Then he tells you that flying fairies at the bottom of his garden are trying to kill him.
Do you:
A. Hail that leader as a straight up kind of a guy
B. Offer to buy his car collection because he says they are all really great and going cheap, only selling for a friend.
C. Invade Greenland
D. Find your son’s doodle of a funny looking battleship and order twenty to be built.
E. Go and lie down in a dark room with a damp towel on your forehead, reflecting that this whole President thing might not be for you.