Russia claimed Monday that Ukraine had attacked an official residence of Vladimir Putin in the Novgorod region with 91 long-range drones overnight, all of which were shot down.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky emphatically denied the claim by Kremlin Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, charging Moscow was laying the groundwork for strikes on Kyiv following Zelensky’s Sunday meeting with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
“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 wrote on X.
“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.”
Lavrov claimed Russia would review its negotiating position in talks to end its nearly four-year-old invasion of Ukraine as a result of the overnight attack.
“Ukraine does not take steps that can undermine diplomacy. To the contrary, Russia always takes such steps. This is one of many differences between us,” Zelensky insisted.
“It is critical that the world doesn’t stay silent now. We cannot allow Russia to undermine the work on achieving a lasting peace.”
It was not immediately clear whether Putin was at the residence at the time.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The Novgorod region is located in northwestern Russia, roughly halfway between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The number of official residences Putin maintains is a closely guarded secret. In 2012, opponents of the Russian tyrant published a report claiming that Putin personally owned 20 palaces and villas, nearly half of which had been built since he took office in 2000.
One of that report’s co-authors, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, was assassinated in Moscow in February 2015. Five Chechen men were found guilty of murder-for-hire in 2017 — though the identity and whereabouts of their patron has never been disclosed.
