Russia said Monday that Ukraine tried—and failed—to hit Vladimir Putin's residence in northern Russia with a swarm of drones, a claim Kyiv calls fiction aimed at sabotaging fragile peace talks. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said 91 long-range drones targeted Putin's residence in Russia's Novgorod region, insisting all were shot down without casualties or damage and vowing "reckless actions will not go unanswered," Reuters reports. Lavrov offered no proof for the claim, and it's not clear whether Putin was at the residence west of Moscow at the time.
"Given the final degeneration of the criminal Kyiv regime, which has switched to a policy of state terrorism, Russia's negotiating position will be revised," Lavrov said, per the BBC, though he added that Russia doesn't plan to give up on talks. Ukraine flatly rejected the accusation. President Volodymyr Zelensky called it "another round of lies," arguing Russia is laying the groundwork to justify new strikes on Kyiv, possibly against government buildings, and to derail progress in talks with the US. Zelensky said: "It is critical that the world doesn't stay silent now. We cannot allow Russia to undermine the work on achieving a lasting peace."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the drone story was fabricated as a pretext for more attacks and urged other countries to condemn Moscow's narrative. President Trump said he learned Russia's accusation of an attack in a phone call with Putin on Monday. "I don't like it. It's not good," he said, per Reuters. "I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it." Trump added: "It's a delicate period of time. This is not the right time." Trump also spoke to Putin on Sunday before Zelensky arrived for talks at Mar-a-Lago.
Asked if there was any proof of the attack, Trump told reporters: "Well, we'll find out. You're saying maybe the attack didn't take place? That's possible, I guess, but President Putin told me this morning." The Hill reports that Republican Rep. Don Bacon criticized Trump for appearing to side with Putin's account of the alleged strike attempt. "President Trump and his team should get the facts first before assuming blame," Bacon said in a post on X. "Putin is a well known boldface liar."
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
