Russia has accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate President Vladimir Putin by launching a large-scale drone attack on a state residence linked to him in the Novgorod region, Russian officials said overnight into December 29.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed the allegation, claiming that Ukrainian forces used 91 drones in the attempted strike. According to Lavrov, all of the drones were intercepted and destroyed by Russian air defense systems before reaching their targets.
Lavrov said the incident marked a dramatic escalation in the conflict and accused Kyiv of adopting what he described as a policy of state terrorism. He warned that Russia would retaliate and revise its negotiating position in response to the alleged attack.
The Russian foreign minister said Moscow would no longer approach talks with Ukraine in the same way following what he called a direct attempt to target the Russian head of state. Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the claims, which could not be independently verified.
