Zelenskyy rejects Russia’s claim Ukraine drones attacked Putin’s residence

Russia says it is reviewing its negotiating position after claiming Ukrainian drones attacked the state residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin overnight Monday, an allegation Ukraine’s president called a “complete fabrication.”

In a statement on his ministry’s Telegram channel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of moving “towards a policy of state terrorism” and said “such reckless actions will not go unanswered.” He said targets and timing for retaliatory strikes had already been determined.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X that the allegation was “intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kyiv,” and undermine peace talks.

“Typical Russian lies,” he wrote.

“Ukraine does not take steps that can undermine diplomacy. To the contrary, Russia always takes such steps. This is one of many differences between us.”

The allegation came soon after Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump emerged from lengthy negotiations in Florida with claims of progress, but no word on a potential deal to end Russia’s brutal, years-long war.

The talks were held as Russia continued to bombard Ukraine with missile and drone strikes over the weekend, including in the capital of Kyiv.

Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy aide, said in a separate Telegram statement that Putin and Trump had spoken on Monday and that Putin had been briefed by Trump and his senior advisers about Washington’s negotiations with Ukraine.

Trump was shocked and “outraged” when Putin told him that Ukraine had attacked a presidential residence in Novgorod, Ushakov said.

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“Russia’s position will be reviewed on a number of agreements reached at the previous stage and on the emerging solutions,” Ushakov said. “This was stated very clearly.”

Lavrov emphasized in his statement that Russia was not withdrawing from negotiations with the U.S.

“At the same time, given the final degeneration of the criminal Kyiv regime, which has moved towards a policy of state terrorism, Russia’s negotiating position will be revised,” he said in Russian.

Lavrov said the alleged Ukrainian “terrorist attack” involved 91 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that targeted the Russian presidential residence in the Novgorod region, which lies south of St. Petersburg.

Russian air defences destroyed all the UAVs, Lavrov said, and there were “no reports of casualties or damage” from the debris. It was not clear if Putin was at the residence at the time.

“Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump’s team,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

“We cannot allow Russia to undermine the work of achieving a lasting peace.”

— with files from Reuters