Handed proof of attempted Ukrainian strike on Putin residence to US: Russia

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Thursday that it has handed over proof that the Ukrainian military had targeted a Russian presidential residence this week. It said that a senior Russian military chief handed over part of a Ukrainian drone containing data to a US military attache. On Monday, Moscow accused Kyiv of trying to strike a residence of President Vladimir Putin in Russia’s northern Novgorod region with 91 long-range attack drones, after which Russia said it would review its negotiating position in ongoing talks with the US on ending the Ukraine war.

Ukraine and Western countries disputed Russia’s account of the alleged attempted strike.

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A video posted on the Russian Defence Ministry’s Telegram channel showed Admiral Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces, handing to the US attache what he described as the controlling mechanism of a drone found among downed fragments.

“The decryption of the content of the memory of the navigation controller of the drones carried out by specialists of Russia’s special services confirms without question that the target of the attack was the complex of buildings of the Russian president’s residence in Novgorod region,” Kostyukov said.

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“We presume that this measure will do away with any questions and allow for the truth to be established.”

The Russian Defence Ministry had earlier posted a statement on Telegram saying its findings would be turned over to the United States.

US media reports on Wednesday said that the US national security officials had found that Ukraine did not target Putin or any of his residences in a drone strike.

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US President Donald Trump initially told reporters on Monday that Putin had informed him of the alleged incident and that he was “very angry” about it, but by Wednesday, Trump shared on social media a New York Post editorial accusing Russia of blocking peace in Ukraine.

Ukraine denied carrying out any such attack and said the accusation was part of a Russian disinformation campaign meant to drive a wedge between Kyiv and Washington after a meeting between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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