CIA rejects Russia's claim of Ukraine targeting Putin's residence

Moscow alleged Kyiv targeted Putin's residence, a claim he raised with Donald Trump during a phone call. The CIA later briefed Trump that such an attack was unlikely to have occurred

Even as Russian authorities claim that Ukraine fired missiles towards Vladimir Putin's residence, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) believes that such an attack may not have happened, according to a CNN report.

 

On Wednesday (local time), CIA Director John Ratcliffe briefed US President Donald Trump about the agency's assessment, which may have undercut an assertion Putin made to the US President on Monday.

 

What did Russia say?

 

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Kyiv launched 91 missiles towards Putin’s home in Russia’s northwest Novgorod region, but added that the claimed attack would not prompt Moscow to withdraw from the peace talks.

 

A statement said: “On the night of December 28-29, the Kiev regime launched a terrorist attack using 91 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on the state residence of the President of the Russian Federation in the Novgorod Region. All the UAVs were destroyed by the air defence systems of the Russian Armed Forces. No casualties or damage were reported.”

 

Russia’s defence ministry said more than half the drones were intercepted several hundred kilometres away, though it did not explain how it concluded they were headed for Valdai. It said the rest were intercepted over Novgorod between 3 am and 8.30 am local time on Monday.

 

What Putin told Trump?

 

After Putin's call, Trump told reporters that he was troubled by the incident, appearing to accept Putin’s account despite Ukraine denying any involvement.

 

“I don’t like it. It’s not good,” Trump said, describing himself as “very angry” on hearing the claim. He later acknowledged the allegation was false and that such an attack had not occurred, but added: “But President Putin told me this morning it did.”

 

What did CIA assessment say?

 

According to the CNN report, Ratcliffe told Trump that the CIA did not believe such an attack happened. Following the briefing, Trump appeared to take a more sceptical stance. He posted a link on Truth Social to a New York Post editorial titled, “Putin ‘attack’ bluster shows Russia is the one standing in the way of peace".

 

The editorial board said it was “rich” for Putin — who has waged a brutal war for nearly four years — to argue that violence near him warranted special outrage, and asserted that “any attack on Putin is more than justified".

 

The board added: “But here’s the rub: The drone strike likely never happened.” It noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had vigorously denied it, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia could provide no evidence and urged the press to “take the Kremlin’s word for it”. “No, we won’t,” the board wrote.

 

The allegations by Russian officials came a day after Trump met Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago and said he was optimistic about progress towards brokering peace in the conflict.

 

However, some European officials said Putin’s claim was an attempt to derail the peace talks.