Russia says Ukraine tried to attack Putin's residence but Kyiv says Moscow is lying

[highplainsdem]

Source: Reuters

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Ukraine had tried to attack President Vladimir Putin's residence in northern Russia and so Moscow's negotiating position would be reviewed, but Ukraine said it was a lie.

Russia said Ukraine attacked the presidential residence in the Novgorod region overnight with 91 long-range drones, which were all destroyed by Russian air defences. No one was injured and there was no damage, Lavrov said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the accusation was a lie, adding that Moscow was preparing the ground to strike government buildings in Kyiv. He said the Russian claim was an attempt to undermine peace talks.

Lavrov said that targets had already been selected for retaliatory strikes by Russia's armed forces. "Such reckless actions will not go unanswered," he said, adding that the attack amounted to "state terrorism."

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-ukraine-tried-attack-putins-residence-so-moscows-negotiating-stance-2025-12-29/

[Irish_Dem]

1. It's way past time for Putin to leave the planet.

By any means possible.

[riversedge]

5. A one way ticket OFF Mother Earth. No return ticket!

[in2herbs]

21. There are some who say he's already left the planet and that doubles are taking his place. nt

[Irish_Dem]

27. I think this is possible. Or Putin is in deep hiding and sending out doubles.

It is well known that Putin uses body doubles.

Putin has been in obvious bad health for years now.
He could be dead or in very poor health.
Someone else is doing the public appearances.

And the generals, the oligarchs, and the Russian people are turning against Putin.
He could be in hiding because monsters like him are cowards.

[Irish_Dem]

2. How many times has Putin tried to kill Zelensky?

But then gets butt hurt when the tables are turned!!

[tavernier]

7. I still think Zelensky shouldn't have eaten the food at

the mar-a-Lago convalescent center yesterday. There are all kinds of poisons out there and Putin in his two hour talk with Rump could have been giving him a recipe for a delayed action deadly potion. Two weeks later Z dies and everyone is blameless.

[Irish_Dem]

17. Did he actually eat the food or just move it around his plate?

Maybe aides brought him some clean food.

I agree, Zelensky knows Putin wants to kill him.
And Trump would do it as a favor to Putin.

[PatSeg]

20. Such a classic bully tactic

Commit violence and pain on others, but act outraged if your victims dare to fight back.

It is often seen in domestic violence. "I can hit you justifiably, but if you fight back that gives me license to scale up my violence." I've witnessed and even experienced it over and over again. It is a timeless maneuver from the Bully Playbook.

[Irish_Dem]

25. Yes exactly. When victims fight back, bullies are furious.

They claim victim status to justify their ongoing abuse.

[PatSeg]

28. It is so common, yet so bizarre

It is a cycle that is almost impossible to break, though I've seen some who just slow down with age.

[Irish_Dem]

29. Trump is just the front man. The snake oil salesman.

His minders are the real power.

[PatSeg]

31. Sadly true

[mitch96]

22. Classic attempt at a false flag operation... such bull Scheie...nt

[travelingthrulife]

3. Putin is just like NuttyYahoo.

Do not accept this deal. You cannot depend on the us Congress to do it's job.

[surfered]

4. It's difficult to determine who's the bigger liar: Putin or Trump.

[Irish_Dem]

18. Putin is the better liar because he is smarter.

[Historic NY]

6. Good idea but taking the dome off the Kremlin will do....

now that you have longer range drones

[mitch96]

23. I'm waiting for putins pet structure to get smoked...The kerch bridge... That would burn his ass...nt

[gab13by13]

8. I doubt this is true,

It is probably an excuse for Putin to assassinate Zelenskyy.

[Irish_Dem]

19. Putin doesn't need it an excuse. He tried to kill Zelensky the minute he invade Ukraine.

And keeps trying.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

9. Yeah, Putin is lying again,

and even if Ukraine had tried to take out Putin, so what?
How many times has Putin tried to take out Pres. Zelensky?
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[AZ8theist]

16. 100% correct.

The Russians are lying scum. Just like their fuck boy, Dozy Don.

[mitch96]

24. The ruskies even have a name for it,,, Vranyo...He knows he's lying You know he's lying, and it's accepted.

It's in their culture...
From the google machine:

Vranyo (враньё is a Russian concept for a specific type of lie where both the speaker and listener know it's untrue, but maintain the fiction for social, political, or cultural reasons, often to save face, or navigate absurd realities, unlike a true "lie" (lozh) meant to deceive. It involves a mutual, unspoken agreement to pretend, seen in everything from polite half-truths to state propaganda, where challenging the obvious untruth is impolite or dangerous.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. Note to Russia: don't start a war if you don't like attacks on your home.

[CanonRay]

11. Ukrainians doesn't waste armaments on symbolic targets.

They shoot at oil platforms.

[ancianita]

12. The "state terrorism" is Russia's alone and all its leaders.

Every attack is a confession, especially by the top international criminal Vladimir Putin.

[pandr32]

13. I tend to believe Ukraine.

[chouchou]

14. Boy! What to do? Believe a brave, kind loving leader or the cousin of an elephant turd?

Alex: I'll take door #2 for "Probably Trump and Putin hatched this bullshit"

[Bayard]

15. So?

If they did, I hope they keep trying. Its not like Putin hasn't bombed the hell out of Kyiv. But Moscow is off limits. Ukraine has always had to fight with one hand tied behind their back.

[Turbineguy]

26. If the Ukrainians killed Putin

They would save a lot of Russian lives.

[Evolve Dammit]

30. I fail to see how that would not be appropriate at any point in the last 4 years?? Ukraine gets short-shrived constantly

[Emrys]

32. If Ukraine did that, I would have no problem with it. Putin has tried to decapitate Ukraine many times, so all's fair.

An attack on the scale Lavrov claims seems vanishingly unlikely, and his constant disregard for the truth makes it even more implausible. His use of the term "state terrorism" is obvious blatant projection. Cry me a river.

It's obvious that Putin wouldn't be in his wannabe Bond villain lair because he's a chicken and no doubt spends every night in a private Moscow bunker, so it would be a waste of Ukrainian drones that could be much more effective elsewhere.

[blue-wave]

33. More power to Ukraine if they did

But IMHO, Ukraine should target Putin's multi-billion dollar palace in the Sochi area. Now that would be something! Every penny to build the place was stolen from the Russian people.

Here's Alexi Navalny's documentary on the place:

Putin's palace. The story of the world's biggest bribe

[travelingthrulife]

38. No wonder Trump drools so slavishly over Putin.

He is his dream come true.

[Kaleva]

34. Didn't Putin send assassins into Ukraine to kill Zelenskiy?

At the beginning of the war?

[muriel_volestrangler]

35. No evidence produced yet; Russia is saying it can use this as an excuse to do anything it wants

The BBC's Russian Editor, Steve Rosenberg, said no drone debris or damage done has been shown. He said "the tone of statements is off the scale, in terms of anti-Ukrainian anti-Zelenskyy bile, in terms of calls for retribution. So we hear Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying Moscow had already selected targets in Ukraine for retaliatory strikes, and accused Kyiv of state terrorism, and this morning, there was a piece full of sabre-rattling in the ultra pro-Kremlin Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, which suggests Russia may use this moment to exert even more pressure on Ukraine. It's headlined 'Russia Now Has a Free Hand', and the article that this is a turning point, it asserts that 'the attack on the residence completely unties our hands. The Russian President once said "we haven't even got going yet"; well, now, it's time... Now the terms for a long term peace will be totally dependent on Russian soldiers. Where they step - that is our land'." Rosenberg said this is a battle for Trump's mind.

From 2:13:30 here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002nv4x

[Emrys]

36. They needed an excuse? n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

40. They need Trump to feel happy about what they do. So they need to look like a victim

in his gullible eyes. Modi of India too - I looked for stories on this, and Indian sources had him saying "oh, this is very bad", and seeming to take the Russians' word that it did happen.

[Emrys]

41. Since the details of any "security guarantee" for Ukraine we've heard of so far

include a clause that says all bets are off if Ukraine attacks Russia, this looks like (a) an obvious attempt to set back the talks between Trump and Zelensky, and (b) a trial balloon to see how easy it might be to derail any "peace" settlement in future. If Trump's anywhere near power, things don't look good. The Ukrainians definitely understand this.

Whether Trump believes US intelligence, once/if they've bothered to brief him, rather than the Russians in this instance is almost moot. No evidence at all has been presented of any such strikes or interceptions, and it sounds like no non-Russian intelligence agencies are buying in to it.

In any case, what rules apply here, and who sets them?

Putin bombs civilians umpteen times a day and has had packs of his thugs attempting to assassinate Zelensky and harm his family at least since the 2022 hostilities started, not to mention picking off members of his government. If a mere attempted attack on a property of Putin's - and there's been no indication he was anywhere near, nor that the Ukrainians mistakenly (and stupidly) thought he'd be there - is enough to cause such pearl-clutching, well ...

[travelingthrulife]

37. I know this is permanent Groundhogs Day, but didn't Putin already use this lie on one of their last

phony peace talks.

[mountain grammy]

39. I feel like Biden could have ended this shit..

oh well, he had a lot on his plate. I still love the man, but I think he was too cautious here and in Gaza..because American foreign policy should always be cautious, but not when a malignant wanna be lying dictator is waiting in the wings.