A senior Russian military official handed over to a U.S. military attaché on Thursday debris from a Ukrainian drone, claiming the data it contained showed that Ukrainian forces had targeted a Russian presidential residence earlier this week, as reported by Reuters.
Moscow accused Kyiv on Monday of trying to strike a residence of President Vladimir Putin in Russia's northern Novgorod region with 91 long-range attack drones. It said Russia would review its negotiating position in ongoing talks with the U.S. on ending the Ukraine war, according to the report.
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Ukraine and Western countries have disputed Russia's account of the alleged attempted strike.
A video posted on the Russian Defence Ministry's Telegram channel showed Admiral Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of Russia's Armed Forces, handing to the U.S. attache what he described as the controlling mechanism of a drone found among downed fragments.
"The decryption of the content of the memory of the navigation controller of the drones carried out by specialists of Russia's special services confirms without question that the target of the attack was the complex of buildings of the Russian president's residence in Novgorod region," Kostyukov said.
“We presume that this measure will do away with any questions and allow for the truth to be established.”
The Ministry had earlier posted a statement on Telegram saying its findings would be turned over to the United States.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that U.S. national security officials had found Ukraine did not target Putin or one of his residences in a drone strike. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
U.S. President Donald Trump initially expressed sympathy for the Russian charge, telling reporters on Monday that Putin had informed him of the alleged incident and that he was "very angry" about it.
By Wednesday, Trump had grown more doubtful, posting on social media a New York Post editorial that claimed Russia was obstructing peace efforts in Ukraine.
Ukraine rejected the allegation, saying it had not carried out the attack and calling the claim part of a Russian disinformation effort aimed at straining relations between Kyiv and Washington following a weekend meeting between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
(With inputs from Reuters)
