The EU’s top diplomat has called Moscow’s claims that Ukraine targeted Russian government sites a “deliberate distraction” and an attempt to derail the peace process.
Kaja Kallas’ comments on social media appear to be a reference to the Kremlin’s allegation that Ukraine attempted a drone strike on one of Vladimir Putin’s residences.
“No one should accept unfounded claims from the aggressor who has indiscriminately targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilians,” Kallas wrote on social media.
Earlier this week Moscow accused Ukraine of targeting Putin’s private home on Lake Valdai in north-west Russia.
Russia would review its position in the ongoing peace negotiations as a result, the Kremlin said.
Since Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov first shared the claims, Russian state media and politicians have discussed the alleged attack in increasingly incendiary tones.
“The attack is a strike on the heart of Russia,” said Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Russian parliament’s defence committee. “After what [Ukraine] has done, there can be no forgiveness.”
Although the Kremlin initially said it saw no point in sharing proof of the alleged attack, on Wednesday the Russian army released what it said was evidence of the attempted strike.
It included a map allegedly showing that the drones were launched from the Sumy and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine and a video of a downed drone lying in snowy woodland. A serviceman standing next to the wreckage claims it is a Ukrainian Chaklun drone.
The BBC hasn’t been able to verify the footage, and it is not possible to locate where it was shot.
The profile of the wrecked UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) does bear similarities to Ukrainian-produced Chakluns – but because the components of the drone pictured are inexpensive and widely available online, they cannot be conclusively traced to the Ukrainian military.
Russia’s defence ministry also released a video of what it said was a local resident who described hearing a rocket-like noise at the time of the alleged attack.
However, one Russian investigative media outlet said it had spoken to more than a dozen residents of the area around Putin’s residence and none had heard anything that could indicate 91 drones had approached or been shot down by air defences.
“If something like that had happened, the whole city would have been talking about it,” one person told the outlet.
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry said what Russia presented as evidence was “laughable”. “They are not serious even about fabricating the story,” Heorhii Tykhyi told Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also strenuously denied the allegations, tying them to the ongoing US-led process to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Putin has not publicly mentioned the alleged drone strike, but addressing Russia’s troops in Ukraine during his New Year’s Eve speech, he said “we believe in you and our victory”.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump’s advisers held talks with Zelensky and national security advisers from the UK, France and Germany about ending the war in Ukraine.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff said they discussed “strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart”.
In Zelensky’s New Year’s Eve address, he said “the peace agreement is 90% ready, 10% remains”.
“Those are the 10% that will determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe,” he said.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said European states and allies who are due to meet in Paris on 6 January “will make concrete commitments to protect Ukraine and ensure a just and lasting peace on our European continent”.
In recent weeks the American and Ukrainian delegations have been working closely, and Zelensky has expressed cautious optimism that his country’s demands were going to be taken into account.
In his view, he said on Tuesday, the claims about the drone attack on Putin’s Valdai residence were about “the fact that over the past month there were quite successful talks and a positive meeting between our teams, culminating in our meeting with President Trump.”
Russia wanted to disrupt the “positive momentum” between the US and Ukraine, Zelensky said.
When the claims emerged Zelensky also warned that the alleged drone strike would be used as an excuse to carry out strikes on Kyiv and Ukrainian government buildings. Overnight on Wednesday air alerts briefly rang out in the capital as a drone approached, but no hits or damage were reported.
Instead, several locations across the country were hit by drones and Odesa on the Black Sea suffered a large-scale attack which saw an apartment block hit and six people injured, including three children. More than 170,000 were also left without power as temperatures struggled to push past 0C.
Odesa has been coming under sustained attack for several weeks. The intensity of the strikes appears to have increased since Putin’s threat in early December to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea in retaliation for drone attacks on tankers of Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the Black Sea.
With hours to go until the end of another year of war, many in Kyiv only had one wish for 2026.
“We hope that all of this will end. We want this to be over and to live as we did before,” 26-year-old Mariya said.
Standing outside the golden-domed St Sophia monastery in Kyiv, she added: “We have a very beautiful country with enormous potential. Our strength is in our people, and that is why we keep going.”
As she spoke, teenage carollers nearby sang Christmas songs, collecting donations for the armed forces. “We all want victory to come in 2026. It’s our united wish,” said one.
Zelensky has expressed the desire for peace negotiations to resume and accelerate early in January with the involvement of both American and European officials. But any deal will ultimately need Russian buy-in, which does not seem forthcoming – and which the alleged drone incident over Putin’s residence may have pushed further into the distance.
So could next year truly bring peace? “We truly hope so, but we can’t say for certain. We are doing everything we can,” Mariya said.
Next to her, a woman named Ksenia shrugged and turned her eye to the sky: “Really, only God knows.”
