Ukraine’s MFA says Russia fabricates drone attack to justify tougher negotiating stance

Russia fabricated an alleged “Ukrainian drone attack” on President Vladimir Putin’s residence in order to derail peace efforts that have recently gained momentum thanks to active engagement by Ukraine and the United States.

This was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi in a post on social media platform X, commenting on remarks by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov about a change in Russia’s negotiating position, Ukrinform reports.

“This is precisely the reason why the Russians invented the Residence Attack Hoax. All they needed is to create a false (and quite sloppy) justification for Russia to reject peace efforts that have recently accelerated thanks to active work by Ukraine and the United States,” Tykhyi said.

According to Russian media, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed that Russia would toughen its negotiating position following reports of an alleged “Ukrainian drone attack” on Putin’s residence in Valdai.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that on the night of December 29, Ukraine’s Armed Forces allegedly launched 91 drones at Putin’s state residence in Valdai, in Russia’s Novgorod region. The Russian minister threatened Ukraine with a “retaliatory strike” and claimed that the targets and timing of such an attack had already been determined.

Zelensky described Lavrov’s statement about an alleged drone attack on Putin’s residence in Valdai as “yet another lie by the Russian Federation.”