The conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated further, jeopardizing peace negotiations. According to CNBC, Russia said Ukraine launched a drone strike on one of Vladimir Putin’s official residences. Ukraine has denied the accusation, calling it a “complete fabrication.”
The allegation was made Monday by Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister. He claimed that Ukraine launched 91 drone attacks on Putin’s official residence in the Novgorod region, located between Moscow and St. Petersburg. According to Lavrov, the drones were launched between Sunday night and Monday morning.
Although it remains unclear where Putin was during the alleged attack, Lavrov confirmed that no casualties had been reported. He added that Russian air defenses destroyed the drones.
Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump’s team. We keep working together to bring peace closer.
This alleged “residence strike” story is a complete fabrication intended to justify…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 29, 2025
However, Ukraine has denied the allegation, calling it a complete “fabrication.” After Lavrov’s claim, President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X, “Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump’s team.”
“This alleged ‘residence strike’ story is a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kyiv, as well as Russia’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war. Typical Russian lies,” he added.
After the alleged attack, the Kremlin emphasized that its military is ready to retaliate. According to CNBC, Putin also called Donald Trump following the incident. According to Russian state media, he informed the POTUS that his country would “revise its stance” in the ongoing peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Kremlin alleged that Western media was “siding with Ukraine” as Zelensky continued to deny the claim. Russia was also asked by reporters to provide evidence of the alleged strike, to which Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, said the matter involved the military.
Reporter: Are you worried that the alleged strike on Putin’s residence would scuttle the—
Trump: I don’t like it. You know who told me about it? President Putin. That’s no good. I stopped the tomahawks. I didn’t want that.
It’s one thing to be offensive because they’re… pic.twitter.com/R0CTfbVQrl
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 29, 2025
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, noted that “almost a day passed, and Russia still hasn’t provided any plausible evidence for its accusations of Ukraine’s alleged ‘attack on Putin’s residence.’ And they won’t. Because there’s none. No such attack happened.”
Notably, the allegations came just a day after Zelensky met with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. It ended quite successfully, with both presidents saying they made some progress on the 20-point peace plan.
According to Russian state media, when Putin called Trump regarding the alleged attack, the POTUS reportedly had a strong reaction. Kremlin presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the Republican leader was “shocked by this information, literally outraged” at “such reckless actions,” according to state media agency Tass.
On Monday, Trump told reporters in Florida, “I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it.
This is not the right time. 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.”
