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Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of attempting to attack President Vladimir Putin’s villa in the Novgorod region between St. Petersburg and Moscow with 91 drones. There are strong doubts that the attack actually happened: Russia has provided no evidence of any kind. He said there were no injuries or damage, because all the drones were shot down by the defense systems protecting the villa. However, Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy advisor, said that because of the alleged attack, Russia will “review” its position in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a social media post, called the accusation “a complete falsehood aimed at justifying new attacks against Ukraine.” According to Zelensky, Russia spread the news to “undermine the results of diplomacy” and guarantee itself justification for rejecting any ceasefire proposals that may emerge from the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Ukraine.
However, US President Donald Trump seemed to believe Putin. At a press conference Monday evening, he said he was “very angry” about the alleged attack. When journalists asked him if he was sure the attack had actually happened, he replied: «Well, we’ll see. Say that maybe the attack didn’t happen: that’s possible too, I’d say. But President Putin told me this morning that there was.”
The news of the alleged attack comes at a delicate moment: Trump and Zelensky met on Sunday at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s residence in Florida. They did not reach a final agreement to end the war, but the meeting shows that diplomatic efforts are continuing. At the moment Russia has no real interest in reaching a ceasefire, because Putin is convinced that he has the advantage and can conquer more Ukrainian territory by force. At the same time, Russia does not want to be held responsible for a possible failure of the negotiations, because this would provoke a reaction from Trump.
From this point of view, the news of the attack on Putin’s residence provides a good pretext: by presenting itself as a victim, Russia could hinder the negotiations with new claims, as advisor Ushakov mentioned. One possibility is that Putin will expand his territorial demands in Ukraine: not only the Donbas, but also the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which are currently partially occupied.
