Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that Ukrainian forces fired 91 kamikaze drones at President Vladimir Putin’s residence in Russia’s Novgorod region, and warned the attack would change Moscow’s negotiating position. For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied that his forces launched the attack.
Lavrov said that Russian air defenses intercepted all of the Ukrainian drones but warned Moscow would respond, saying that targets for retaliatory strikes have already been determined. “Such reckless actions will not go unanswered,” Lavrov said.
According to Yury Ushakov, an aide to Putin, President Trump spoke with the Russian leader by phone on Monday and said he was “shocked” by the attack. “The US president, according to Putin, was shocked by this news and expressed outrage, stating that he could not have imagined such crazy actions on the part of Kiev,” Ushakov said.
Zelensky called the accusation that his forces targeted Putin’s residence “another lie” that will likely be used to justify more strikes on Ukraine. “With this statement about an alleged attack on some residence, they are preparing the ground to strike, most likely the capital and government buildings,” he said.
Ukrainian forces have previously targeted the Kremlin with drones, and Ukrainian intelligence officials have threatened to target Putin for assassination.
Zelensky suggested Russia’s accusation was related to his talks with Trump on Sunday. “It’s obvious that yesterday we had a meeting with President Trump, and it’s clear that when there is no scandal for the Russians, when there is progress, it is a failure for them. They do not want to end this war and are only capable of doing so under pressure. So they are looking for a pretext,” he said.
Trump said after the talks that the issue of territory is still unresolved as Zelensky refuses to cede the rest of the Donbas, a key Russian demand. The US and Ukraine have also agreed on NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine that will almost certainly be rejected by Russia.
