Russia Releases Drone Footage on Alleged Attack on Putin Home as US Intelligence Finds No Evidence

Overview

• Russia’s Defense Ministry published nighttime footage and displayed drone fragments, asserting Ukraine launched a coordinated strike with 91 drones toward a presidential residence in the Novgorod region, with no reported damage.
• Kyiv rejected the accusation as fabricated, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called Moscow’s claim unfounded and a deliberate distraction from peace talks.
• US intelligence assessments reported in the press found no evidence that Ukraine targeted or hit a residence belonging to Vladimir Putin, suggesting the possibility of a strictly military target in the region instead.
• Cross-border attacks continued over New Year’s, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying Russia launched more than 200 attack drones largely against energy infrastructure, causing outages in multiple regions including Volyn and Odessa.
• A Moscow-appointed governor in occupied Kherson accused Ukraine of a New Year’s drone strike that killed at least 24 people in Khorly, a claim for which no independently verifiable evidence was provided and to which Ukraine did not immediately respond.