Overview
- Russia’s Defense Ministry said GRU chief Igor Kostyukov delivered decoded navigation data and a drone component to a U.S. military attaché in Moscow, asserting a December 29 plot to hit Putin’s Valdai residence.
- A CIA assessment conveyed to President Donald Trump concluded Ukrainian drones did not target Putin or his residence and instead struck a military objective in the same region.
- Kyiv rejects Moscow’s allegation as false, calls the presented materials fabricated, and says its forces strike only military and other lawful targets.
- The Kremlin signaled a harder negotiating posture after Putin briefed Trump, even as U.S., European and Ukrainian envoys plan further consultations in the coming days.
- Both sides reported extensive New Year drone and missile activity with casualty and shootdown figures that remain unverified, and Ukraine’s intelligence service publicized a faked-death operation involving militia leader Denis Kapustin, underscoring active information warfare.