Russia repeats disputed claim of Ukrainian drone attack on Putin residence but offers no evidence

By Tim Lister and Darya Tarasova

(CNN) — The Kremlin has dismissed calls to provide evidence to support its claim that Ukraine launched an attack using dozens of drones against one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residences.

But on Tuesday, it repeated that the drone assault took place in the Novgorod region, south of St. Petersburg, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying ⁠the alleged operation was a “terrorist attack” aimed at “sabotaging President Trump’s efforts to facilitate a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.”

US President Donald Trump has been trying to advance peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, but there are still wide differences between the two sides.

Trump said Putin told him of the alleged attack in a phone call early Monday. Trump indicated that he took Putin at his word before acknowledging that the attack may not have occurred.

Some Western governments and independent analysts have cast doubt on the claim.

There have been no reports from residents of the area, in the Novgorod region of northwestern Russia, of drone activity at the time the attack was alleged to have taken place.

The heavily fortified Valdai presidential residence is situated on the shores of Lake Valdai.

Nor has any social media video been posted, which is unusual when a substantial attack is carried out far from Russia’s border with Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately rejected the claimed drone attack as “a complete fabrication” by Russia.

“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,” Zelensky posted on X.

“Almost a day passed and Russia still hasn’t provided any plausible evidence to its accusations of Ukraine’s alleged ‘attack on Putin’s residence,’” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Tuesday.

“And they won’t. Because there’s none. No such attack happened,” Sybiha posted on X.

Asked Tuesday if Ukraine had spoken with the Trump administration following Russia’s claims, Zelensky told CNN in a news briefing: “Our negotiating team got in touch with the American team. They talked through the details, and we understand that it’s fake. And, of course, our partners can always use their tech to check that it was fake.”

He also told reporters that “there have already been several calls” between Ukrainian negotiators led by Rustem Umerov and US negotiators, including special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Zelensky indicated Tuesday that talks are continuing on other aspects of a potential agreement, including future security guarantees. He said Ukraine has discussed the possibility of an American troop deployment with Trump and with representatives of the Coalition of the Willing. He stressed that any decision to deploy American troops to his country rests with the US president.

Others cast doubt on Russian claims

A source close to French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that “there is no solid evidence to corroborate the serious accusations made by the Russian authorities, even after cross-checking information with our partners.”

The French source added that “Russian attacks in Ukraine and the Ukrainian civilian casualties, on the other hand, are very real and documented.”

Lithuania, a NATO member bordering northwestern Russia, called Moscow’s claim a false flag operation aimed at justifying possible strikes on Ukraine.

“The circumstances of this alleged strike do not conform to the pattern of observed evidence when Ukrainian forces conduct strikes into Russia,” commented the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), noting the absence of video of air defense operations or statements from local and regional Russian authorities.

“ISW has not observed any such footage nor local or regional reporting about Ukrainian strikes near Putin’s residence to corroborate Lavrov’s claim,” it said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was the first to air the claim, hours after Zelensky met with Trump. He asserted that 91 drones were brought down but said there no reports of damage or casualties.

The independent Russian media outlet Agentstvo noted Tuesday that the head of the Valdai district had held a live broadcast at 5 p.m. local time Monday, when he did not mention any attack.

Agentstvo said it was also unable to find reports of any drone attacks in the public social media channels of the 14,000-strong town of Valdai, located 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the residence.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that in the period when the alleged attack occurred, from Sunday night into Monday morning, 41 UAVs were taken down over the Novgorod region.

Lavrov said that “Russia’s negotiating position will be revised” in ongoing peace negotiations and the Russian military had selected targets for “retaliatory strikes.”

On a media call Tuesday, Peskov was asked whether there was any physical evidence of the attack.

“I don’t think there needs to be any kind of ‘evidence’ here, given that such a massive drone raid took place and that, thanks to the well‑coordinated work of our air defenses, they were shot down and neutralized,” Peskov said.

“Zelensky himself is trying to deny it, and many Western media outlets, playing along with the Kyiv regime, are starting to push the line that this supposedly never happened. But these are insane, insane assertions.”

“Although the Russians are spreading fakes to justify their strikes on Ukraine and the further prolongation of this war, the world’s key intelligence services must have the real information,” Zelensky added in another X post, following conversations with European leaders later on Monday.

Putin informed Trump about the alleged drone attack in a call between the two leaders on Monday, and he told the US president that Russia was reviewing its position on peace negotiations as a result, according to Russian state radio, citing a call with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.

Ushakov claimed that Trump was “shocked” and “outraged” by the report he received from Putin, Russian state radio reported.

Asked about the alleged Ukrainian attack ahead of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump told reporters Monday, “I don’t like it. It’s not good.”

Trump said that when Putin told him about the alleged attack, “I was very angry about it.”

In response to a reporter’s question, Trump added: “You’re saying maybe the attack didn’t take place. It’s possible, too, I guess. But President Putin told me this morning it did.”

Asked if US intelligence agencies had evidence of such an attack, Trump said: “We’ll find out.”

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CNN’s Daria Tarasova-Markina, Billy Stockwell, Victoria Butenko, Pierre Bairin and Lauren Kent contributed to this report.