"Drone Attack Where Putin is Located: How Will It Affect the Peace Process?"

 Moscow has maintained its claim that a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle targeted a location where Putin was present. Kyiv, along with EU and U.S. officials, however, view these allegations as an attempt to undermine U.S.-led peace talks.

On Wednesday, Moscow reiterated its claims that a drone allegedly belonging to Ukraine targeted President Vladimir Putin’s residence — an incident that allies have described as an attempt to sabotage U.S.-led efforts to end Russia’s full-scale war.

In the latest move to support the Kremlin’s allegations, Russia’s Ministry of Defense released a video late Monday night showing what it claimed was a downed drone, alleging it had targeted Putin’s residence in Novgorod.

The footage shows a damaged drone lying on snow in a forested area at night. In the video, a masked Russian military personnel can be seen speaking about the unmanned aerial vehicle as the camera shows close-up shots of the drone and its internal components.

In another part of the footage, two masked Russian soldiers sitting inside a military vehicle state: “On the night of December 29, an attempt was made to carry out an attack using a fixed-wing UAV in an area where a protected facility is located.”

No evidence was provided to confirm that the alleged drone attack took place near Putin’s residence. Euronews was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the footage or the location where it was filmed.

Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Moscow would not provide further evidence to support its claims, stating, “I don’t think there is any need for evidence here.”

Valdai residents: ‘No noise, no explosion’

Putin’s residence, also known as Dolgiye Borody or “Long Beards,” is located near the town of Valdai, where residents told local media outlets that they had witnessed no signs of a drone attack.

Speaking to the outlet Mozhem Obyasnit, one local resident said, “There was neither noise nor an explosion that night — nothing at all. If something like that had happened, the whole town would be talking about it.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Russian soldiers who participated in the war in Ukraine at his residence near Moscow, January 1, 2024.
Gavriil Grigorov / Sputnik

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that 91 long-range drones were used in the alleged Ukrainian drone attack.

“This kind of reckless action will not go unanswered,” Lavrov told the Interfax news agency, adding that Moscow’s negotiating stance would change as a result.

Lavrov did not clarify whether Putin was present at the residence during the alleged attack.

The figures cited by the Russian foreign minister contradict the Russian Defense Ministry’s official report, which initially claimed on Monday that a total of 89 Ukrainian drones were shot down, including 18 in the Novgorod region.

According to reports, the Valdai residence — a vacation site for senior officials since the Soviet era — is protected by significant air defense systems, including at least a dozen surface-to-air missile batteries.

‘Deliberate distraction’

Kyiv rejected Moscow’s allegations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded by calling the claims “another lie of the Russian Federation.”

Speaking to journalists on Monday afternoon, Zelenskyy said, “It’s clear that we had a conversation with (U.S. President Donald) Trump yesterday, and for the Russians, if there is no scandal between us and America and progress is being made, that is clearly a failure for them.”

“They do not want to end this war; it can only be ended through pressure. I am sure they were looking for a reason,” he added.

Independence Monument, Kyiv, August 23, 2025.
AP Photo

Since then, several European and U.S. officials have echoed Zelenskyy’s belief that by insisting an attempt was made on Putin’s life, Moscow is deliberately seeking to disrupt U.S.-led peace talks that President Donald Trump has been actively advancing in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas accused Russia of promoting “baseless claims” and described the allegation as a “deliberate distraction.”

“Moscow aims to derail real progress toward peace made by Ukraine and its Western partners,” Kallas wrote on X.

A day earlier, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker also expressed skepticism about Russia’s claims, saying he would like to see U.S. intelligence instead.

“It’s not clear whether this really happened,” Whitaker said in an interview with Fox Business.

“When you’re this close to a peace deal, when Ukraine genuinely wants to reach a peace agreement, doing something reckless or unhelpful seems a bit thoughtless to me,” he added.

Ukraine and its allies have previously accused Moscow of deliberately stalling any ceasefire or peace agreement, while the Kremlin has continued to reiterate its maximalist demands as a precondition for progress in talks.