Zelensky on 'drone attack' on Putin's residence: This is fake news, no one struck it
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that reports about strikes on Putin's Valdai residence are fake news invented by Russia to derail successful negotiations on ending the war.
The head of state said this while answering journalists' questions, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
"Strikes on Putin's Valdai residence are fake news; no one struck it. Is this related to sanctions? Maybe a little, but in my opinion, it is more related to the fact that there was a fairly successful dialogue and positive meetings between our teams over the course of the month, the culmination of which was our meeting with President Trump," Zelensky said.
He noted that what upset him most in this story were statements by some countries that condemned strikes that never happened.
"You know what, to be honest, causes confusion and unpleasant feelings is that some representatives, such as India, the Emirates, and several other states, condemned what they claimed were our drone strikes on Putin's residence, which did not take place," Zelensky said.
He also recalled that, unlike the fake strike on the Valdai residence, there were real strikes on administrative buildings in Kyiv.
"They previously struck our [government] quarter, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Bankova Street in that area. Listen, they strike all our regions every day. They strike people, our children, civilian infrastructure," Zelensky said.
He also noted that U.S. partners have the technical capabilities to verify that Russian statements about an alleged attack on the Russian leader's residence in Valdai are false.
"As for the attack on Valdai, our negotiating team connected with the American one, they discussed the details, and we understand that this is a fake. Of course, our partners can always, thanks to their technical capabilities, verify that it was a fake," he said.
As Ukrinform earlier reported, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed on December 29 that on the night of December 28-29, the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly launched 91 drones at Putin's state residence in Valdai, Novgorod region. The Russian minister threatened Ukraine with a "retaliatory strike" and said that the targets and timing of the attack had already been determined.
Zelensky called Lavrov's statement about an alleged drone attack on Putin's Valdai residence "yet another lie by the Russian Federation."
Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service said that since December 29 Russia has been conducting an information operation aimed at undermining agreements reached between the presidents of Ukraine and the United States.
In particular, fake news about drones is a nervous reaction by the Kremlin to the progress achieved following the Ukraine-U.S. presidential talks in Mar-a-Lago.
According to intelligence, Russia will further use the topic of an "attack on Valdai" to justify strengthening its negotiating position, future combined attacks on Ukraine during the New Year holidays, and the discrediting of Ukraine's leadership.