Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, has accused Ukraine’s armed forces of targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Novgorod residence with 91 long-range kamikaze drones late on Monday.
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, also confirmed that the “Kyiv regime launched a terrorist attack on Putin’s residence with long-range strike drones”.
Lavrov said all the attack drones had been intercepted, with no casualties or material damage reported.
“Retaliatory measures, including strike timing and targets, have been coordinated with the armed forces, and Ukraine will receive a response,” he warned.
The minister noted, however, that while Moscow remains committed to the peace negotiations, the rules of engagement will be revised after Ukraine’s reckless actions.
“The answers will not be diplomatic. Let them not get their hopes up,” Zakharova added, late on Monday.
Reacting to the incident, United States President Donald Trump expressed “shock” at the attack, with Kremlin’s foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, saying Trump “expressed his outrage” and stated that “he could not have imagined such crazy actions on the part of Kyiv”.
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Meanwhile, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who termed Putin recently as a “man of war” and said in his Christmas message that he “wished death for Putin during the upcoming festivities”, denied Ukraine’s role in the attack on Putin’s residence, claiming Moscow is only seeking an excuse to jeopardise the “progress” made by US and Ukraine and to attack the government quarters in Kyiv.
The world too reacted to news of the purported attack, with the UAE and Nicaragua strongly condemning the attempted kamikaze drone attack.
In an official statement released late on Monday, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed solidarity with President Putin and the people of Russia, reaffirming Abu Dhabi’s “unwavering rejection of all forms of violence.”
“The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned the attempt to target the residence of His Excellency Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and denounced this deplorable attack and the threat it poses to security and stability,” the statement said.
The co-presidents of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, sent a letter to Putin, expressing their “most active solidarity in the face of the terrorist attack by Ukraine”.
“It is only logical that fascism behaves in this way, attempting to nullify the strength of the conversations that seek to bring peace closer,” the letter stated.
It’s pertinent to mention that these alleged attacks took place when US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in Florida earlier on Sunday to discuss the possibilities of ending the war with Russia.
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