Russia released a video Wednesday showcasing a downed drone that authorities said was used in an attack on the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend.
Ukraine has denied accusations that it targeted Mr. Putin’s Novogrod residence on Sunday, asserting that the Kremlin fabricated the incident to sabotage the U.S.-brokered peace negotiations.
The video, released by the Russian Ministry of Defense, shows a destroyed drone lying in the snow. An unnamed soldier in the video explains that the drone’s warhead, which contains a large amount of explosive material, didn’t detonate.
The exact location or origin of the drone wasn’t independently verified. Ukraine, which criticized Russia for providing zero proof for the alleged attack, has not commented on the video.
Alexander Romanenkov, chief of Russia’s Air Defense Missile Forces, released a map showing the flight path of 91 drones used in the alleged attack. He said the scale and direction of the attack clearly indicated it was a deliberate strike aimed at Mr. Putin’s residence.
“The structure of the attack, the number of air attack assets deployed, and their actions from the southern, southwestern, and western directions directly toward the area of the Russian President’s residence in the Novgorod region, clearly confirm that the terrorist attack by the Kiev regime was targeted, carefully planned, and echeloned,” Mr. Romanenkov wrote Wednesday on Telegram.
The video and map are the first collection of proof of the alleged attack, which may have hurt the peace process among Russia, Ukraine and the U.S.
Russia’s allegations come after President Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida on Sunday. Both sides agreed that a peace deal was within reach.
During a phone call after the meeting on Monday, Mr. Putin reportedly told Mr. Trump of the alleged attack and said Russia would have to reevaluate its position regarding peace. The Kremlin said Mr. Trump was “shocked” at learning about the alleged drone encounter.
