Overview
- U.S. officials say a CIA review found Ukraine aimed at a separate military site in the region rather than Vladimir Putin’s Valdai residence.
- CIA Director John Ratcliffe briefed President Trump, who later shared an editorial questioning Russia’s claim after initially expressing anger.
- Russia’s Defense Ministry circulated footage, maps, and debris it identified as a Chaklun‑V drone, but major outlets said they could not verify the location, date, or model.
- Ukraine rejected the accusation as fabricated, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the narrative a deliberate distraction from ongoing peace efforts.
- Independent analysts, including ISW and OSINT researchers, reported no open‑source evidence of a strike on the residence and flagged inconsistencies in Russia’s accounts.