The kremlin’s Statements About an Attack on putin’s Residence Are Fake, – says the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine

The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine warns: since 5 p.m. on December 29, russia has been conducting an information operation to disrupt the agreements reached between the Presidents of Ukraine and the United States.

As part of this operation, the kremlin accuses Ukraine of a deliberate attempt to attack putin’s residence using 91 UAVs.

The operation began with S. Lavrov’s statement  and was widely spread by pro-kremlin media (TASS, RT). Over the next two hours (until 7 p.m.), S. Lavrov’s narrative was picked up and expanded upon by other russian spokespeople: deputy minister of foreign affairs of the rf  O. Grushko, assistant to the president of the rf  Yu. Ushakov, leader of the  “fair russia – for the truth” party S.  Mironov, leader of the LDPR party  L. Slutsky,  and first deputy chairman of the rf  state duma committee on defense O. Zhuravlev. Such efficiency and coordination indicate that the operation was carried out at v. putin’s instructions and in accordance with the “playbooks” approved by the Presidential Administration of the rf.

There are a number of facts that indicate that the information about the attack on v. putin’s residence is fake. Here are a few of them:

1)  Throughout December 29, local residents of  Novgorod region did not report the UAV attack and its consequences. Now we see how the kremlin is trying to rectify the situation by spreading on russian social networks (Vkontakte)  fake messages on behalf of alleged residents of the city of Valdai;

2)  There is no factual evidence (debris, photos, videos) of downed UAVs, which the kremlin has been unable to provide for almost a day after the start of the information operation. However, the necessary “evidence” may be provided soon.

3)  The Ministry of Defence of the rf  has twice corrected its published reports to match the kremlin’s narrative (initially reporting 18 recorded UAVs, then increasing the number to 23).

This is not the first time that moscow has deliberately manipulated the topic of  Defence Forces of Ukraine’s  attacks against russian targets without providing any evidence. In May 2023, it reported an UAV attack on the kremlin. In May 2025, it claimed that during a visit to Kursk region, v. putin’s helicopter allegedly found itself in the “epicenter of a UAV attack”.  Sources in the russian government later confirmed that that was a staged event.

The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine points out  that the fake news about the UAVs is the kremlin’s  nervous reaction to the progress achieved as a result of the negotiations between the Presidents of Ukraine and the United States in Mar-a-Lago. In the future, russia will use the topic of the “attack on Valdai” to justify strengthening its negotiating position, future combined attacks on Ukraine during the New Year holidays, and discrediting the Ukrainian leadership.

In this context, we hope that the media will properly verify russian propaganda and will not be used by the kremlin as a tool for spreading russian fakes.