POLITICO was not able to verify the details of the video.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed on Monday that the alleged attack had involved more than 90 long-range drones and warned that Moscow’s position in U.S.-led peace talks would harden as a result.
Ukraine flatly rejected the claim, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling it “another lie from the Russian Federation” and accusing Moscow of manufacturing a provocation to derail diplomatic momentum. Residents of the nearby town of Valdai told Russian independent media Mozhem Obyasnit that they had heard no explosions or signs of an overnight attack.
Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service had previously warned that Moscow was preparing a disinformation operation aimed at derailing Zelenskyy’s progress in talks with U.S. President Donald Trump by blaming Ukraine for an alleged attack on Putin’s residence while presenting no credible evidence.
Western officials also expressed skepticism. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas accused Moscow of spreading “unfounded claims,” describing the alleged attack as a “deliberate distraction” by which “Moscow aims to derail real progress towards peace by Ukraine and its Western partners.”
U.S. officials struck a cautious note, with Washington’s ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, saying on Tuesday it was unclear whether the incident had occurred. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he was unhappy about the reports after speaking with Putin, but acknowledged that their veracity had yet to be established.
