After Sunday's meeting with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Donald Trump seemed pleased, but that same evening Vladimir Putin announced an alleged large-scale attack by Ukrainian drones on his residence. As The Wall Street Journal writes, the timing of the appearance of this story immediately raised the question - who benefits from this. Obviously not Ukraine, writes Focus.
On Monday, Trump said that he had heard about the possible attack directly from Putin. "I was very angry about it", the American president said, emphasizing that now is a "delicate period" and "it's one thing to be offended, and another to attack a house".
Against this background, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky directly stated that "the story about "strikes on the residence" is a complete fabrication". According to him, such statements may be aimed at undermining the recently established contacts between Kiev and Washington.
The Kremlin, for its part, claims that Russian air defenses destroyed all 91 drones that were heading towards Putin's residence, and states that there were no damages or casualties. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry threatened with "retaliatory strikes" and announced that due to this incident "Russia's negotiating position will be reviewed".
Experts doubt the credibility of the Russian claims. Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War note that confirmed Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory are usually accompanied by video from the scene, reports from local residents, recordings of air defenses, fires or explosions. In the case of the alleged attack on Putin's residence, no such evidence has emerged.
"As of Monday, we had not observed any of this", noted ISW representative Grace Mepps.
Against the backdrop of Moscow's statements, it is also recalled that Russia has repeatedly tried to assassinate Volodymyr Zelensky, including outside Ukraine. In September, a Russian cruise missile hit the Council of Ministers building in Kiev.
"Nevertheless, Zelensky continued his efforts to negotiate an end to the war. Putin refused to stop hostilities until Ukraine and its partners agreed to all of Russia's demands. The challenge for Putin was how to respond with "no" Trump's attempts to broker a peace deal while portraying Ukraine as an obstacle. Trump is right about the timing of this story," the WSJ concluded.
The Wall Street Journal: The attack on Putin's residence is very profitable for someone, but definitely not for Zelensky
Against the background of Moscow's statements, it is also recalled that Russia has repeatedly tried to kill Volodymyr Zelensky, including outside Ukraine
Dec 30, 2025 21:17 78
