Ukraine: Drone attack on Putin’s residence is a fabrication by Moscow

Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of firing drones at Vladimir Putin’s residence in Valdai, between Moscow and St. Petersburg, announcing it would “revise” its negotiating position on its war on Ukraine after the “terrorist attack.”

In a statement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine fired 91 drones at Putin’s “official residence” in the Novgorod region Sunday night into Monday, adding that all of them were destroyed by air defenses.

He seemed to be referring to the heavily fortified Valdai presidential residence, on the shores of Lake Valdai in Novgorod Oblast northwest of Moscow. Lavrov made no mention of Putin being in Novgorod at the time.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately rejected the claimed drone attack as “a complete fabrication” from Russia.

Lavrov announced Russia had chosen targets in Ukraine for “retaliation strikes” and that Moscow’s “negotiating position will be revised.”

Russia scholar Michael Weiss suggested on X that the accusation may be an attempt to probe how the US would react. He wrote: “See how it works? Russia already testing America’s willingness to detect and verify violations of any future peace deal. Strong odor of the false flag attacks that Putin used to justify the full-scale invasion.”

Around Vladimir Putin’s residence in Valdai, air defenses have been significantly reinforced: there are now 12 positions, mostly equipped with Pantsir-S1 systems mounted on special towers. By comparison, in 2023-24 there were only two such sites.

According to media reports, Putin’s alleged companion – Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva – often spends time in Valdai, together with their children. As the Russian outlet Proekt reported in 2023, a new house was built there for Kabaeva and the children, and her assistants were given apartments near the Russian president’s residence.

Next to Putin’s dacha is Kabaeva’s own mansion with an area of 1,200 square meters. Construction began in 2020 and was completed in two years. Journalists believe she is the dictator’s mistress and the mother of his three children.

Putin, Kabaeva, and the children use a separate railway line with a guarded station built in 2019. The station has a helipad from which the dictator flies to his Valdai residence.