CNN
By Tim Lister and Darya Tarasova
(CNN) — The Kremlin has dismissed calls to provide evidence to support its claim that Ukraine launched an attack using dozens of drones against one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residences.
But on Tuesday, it repeated that the drone assault took place in the Novgorod region, south of St. Petersburg, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying the alleged operation was a “terrorist attack” aimed at “sabotaging President Trump’s efforts to facilitate a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.”
US President Donald Trump has been trying to advance peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, but there are still wide differences between the two sides.
Trump said Putin told him of the alleged attack in a phone call early Monday. Trump indicated that he took Putin at his word before acknowledging that the attack may not have occurred.
Some Western governments and independent analysts have cast doubt on the claim.
There have been no reports from residents of the area, in the Novgorod region of northwestern Russia, of drone activity at the time the attack was alleged to have taken place.
The heavily fortified Valdai presidential residence is situated on the shores of Lake Valdai.
Nor has any social media video been posted, which is unusual when a substantial attack is carried out far from Russia’s border with Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately rejected the claimed drone attack as “a complete fabrication” by Russia.
“Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump’s team. We keep working together to bring peace closer,” Zelensky posted on X.
“Almost a day passed and Russia still hasn’t provided any plausible evidence to its accusations of Ukraine’s alleged ‘attack on Putin’s residence,’” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Tuesday.
“And they won’t. Because there’s none. No such attack happened,” Sybiha posted on X.
Asked Tuesday if Ukraine had spoken with the Trump administration following Russia’s claims, Zelensky told CNN in a news briefing: “Our negotiating team got in touch with the American team. They talked through the details, and we understand that it’s fake. And, of course, our partners can always use their tech to check that it was fake.”
He also told reporters that “there have already been several calls” between Ukrainian negotiators led by Rustem Umerov and US negotiators, including special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Zelensky indicated Tuesday that talks are continuing on other aspects of a potential agreement, including future security guarantees. He said Ukraine has discussed the possibility of an American troop deployment with Trump and with representatives of the Coalition of the Willing. He stressed that any dec