The Kremlin accused Ukraine of a drone attack on Vladimir Putin's home, which Kyiv denied. Photo / Getty Images
The Kremlin has called the West “insane” to question whether Ukraine carried out a drone attack on one of Vladimir Putin’s homes.
Moscow has failed to produce any evidence of such a strike, which Kyiv has fiercely denied – yet the allegation threatens to derail a pivotal moment in peace negotiations.
Hours after Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said on Monday that 91 long-range drones had been downed over Putin’s secluded residence in Novgorod.
Russia’s position in peace talks would “be revised” as a result, he said, signalling possible retaliatory strikes on Ukrainian government buildings.
More than 24 hours after Lavrov’s claim, Kyiv said there was still no “plausible evidence” that it had targeted the Russian leader’s forest estate.
Analysts and independent Russian outlets have also argued that the claim remained highly dubious, given the lack of any footage, local reports of air defence activity or debris from the incident. Earlier reports by Russia’s defence minister also conflicted with Lavrov’s statements.
However, on Tuesday the Kremlin doubled down and accused Western media outlets of “playing along with the Kyiv regime” by attempting to deny the incident.
“This is a completely insane assertion,” Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said. He added that the “personal attack against Putin” will “toughen the negotiating position of the Russian Federation”.
He said Russia should not have to provide evidence for the alleged attack because the drones were “all shot down”.
The timing of the allegations is also being heavily scrutinised. Trump had just hailed a successful meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart and said US security guarantees for Ukraine had been “95%” decided.
Zelenskyy dismissed the accusation as “another round of lies” intended to sabotage a delicate time in negotiations.
Yet a “very angry” Trump appeared to support the Kremlin’s narrative following a phone call with Putin, reprimanding Kyiv for the alleged attack. The US President said: “It’s one thing to be offensive because they’re offensive. It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that.”
The Kremlin refused to say whether Putin had been staying at the sprawling forest estate at the time, but it is a favoured getaway for the President.
Located on a peninsula between two lakes, the property – ringed by air defences, elite guards and other military assets – is highly difficult to target with drones and missiles.
Satellite imagery from last year showed 12 heavy-duty Pantsir-S1 air defence systems and a long-range radar station being installed in response to Kyiv stepping up its drone attacks on Russian soil.
Residents who live close to the Valdai retreat told Sota, an independent Russian outlet, that they did not hear any air defence activity to support Lavrov’s claim that dozens of drones had been downed.
In its investigation, Sota also said the attack “appears to be technically impossible”, claiming it would have been a “miracle” for Kyiv’s low-flying fixed wing drones to have crossed highly restricted air space and a network of air defence systems.
Russia’s defence ministry did not mention an attack on the residence in its earlier reports of strikes and claimed only 41 were downed over the Novgorod region – almost half the amount Lavrov had claimed.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based think tank, the circumstances of the alleged strike “do not conform to the pattern of observed evidence” when Ukraine conducts strikes inside Russia.
Confirmed Ukrainian strikes in Russia usually generate easily found open-source evidence, including footage, often geo-located, of explosions, fires, debris and statements from local authorities and reports of damage in media reports.
So far, there is no such evidence – further undermining Lavrov’s claim.
In the past, the ISW argued that Ukrainian forces had struck numerous military targets in Novgorod, which produced verifiable evidence.
“Almost a day passed and Russia still hasn’t provided any plausible evidence,” Andriy Sybiga, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said on Tuesday. “And they won’t. Because there’s none. No such attack happened.”
Alexander Grushko, Russia’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, also claimed there was a “British influence” discernible in the attack – again without providing evidence. “The Russian Federation will respond accordingly to this provocation,” he added.
Ukrainian forces have a strong track record of carrying out strikes deep inside Russia, including assassinating high-ranking officials, drone attacks on energy infrastructure and the infamous Operation Spiderweb using small drones to target Moscow’s strategic bomber fleet last June.
However, choosing to target Putin’s home at such a fraught time in peace negotiations appeared highly unlikely, experts said.
On the diplomatic stage, the results of Russia’s claim could be dangerous for Ukraine.
It provides the Kremlin with a pretext to reject a peace deal that both Kyiv and Washington suggested was almost finalised on Sunday. It also gives Moscow an opportunity to sway Trump to be more receptive to Kremlin demands by painting Ukraine as the villain.
Two major stumbling blocks towards peace remain, including the fate of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which Russia has demanded all of, including parts still under Kyiv’s control, and the future ownership of the Moscow-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
European leaders rallied around Zelenskyy following Moscow’s allegation and are expected to discuss the latest peace proposal later on Tuesday.
“We are moving the peace process forward. Transparency and honesty are now required from everyone, including Russia,” Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said on social media.
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