Russian official threatens Zelenskyy as Moscow claims Kyiv attacked Putin residence

(LONDON) — A top Russian official on Monday issued personal threats against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Russia claimed that Ukraine launched a drone attack on one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official residences.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov alleged that Ukraine launched a drone attack on Putin’s state residence in Novgorod region on the night of Dec. 29. Lavrov offered no evidence to support the assertion, which Zelenskyy was quick to dismiss as a Russian disinformation effort.

Dmitry Medvedev — the former Russian president and prime minister now serving on the country’s Security Council — posted to X accusing Zelenskyy of “trying to derail the settlement of the conflict,” referring to the ongoing U.S.-sponsored peace talks.

“He wants war. Well, now at least he’ll have to stay in hiding for the rest of his worthless life,” Medvedev wrote.

In separate posts to Telegram, Medvedev — who, during Moscow’s full-scale war on Ukraine, has become known as a particularly hawkish voice within Putin’s security establishment — even appeared to suggest that Zelenskyy should be “exhibited” in St. Petersburg after his “imminent demise.”

Kiril Dmitriev, the Kremlin aide who also serves as the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and has been closely involved in negotiations with U.S. representatives, also questioned the Ukrainian president’s future.  

“Who is after Zelenskyy?” Dmitriev said in a post to X.

The Kremlin said U.S. President Donald Trump was informed of the alleged attack during a Monday phone call with Putin. Russian officials also threatened retaliatory strikes in Ukraine.

Yuri Ushakov, a top aide to Putin, told the state-run Tass news agency that Putin and Trump discussed the issue by phone on Monday, with the U.S. leader expressing his surprise and anger.

Zelenskyy rejected the Russian reports of the supposed Ukrainian drone attack as “yet another lie.”

“Now, with their statement that some residence of theirs was attacked, they are simply preparing — I am sure — preparing the ground, in principle, to launch strikes, probably on the capital and, probably, on state buildings,” Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post to X on Tuesday that “Russia still hasn’t provided any plausible evidence to its accusations of Ukraine’s alleged ‘attack on Putin’s residence.’ And they won’t. Because there’s none. No such attack happened.”

It is unclear what the latest developments might mean for the ongoing peace talks.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that the alleged Ukrainian attack would prompt a “hardening of the Russian Federation’s negotiating position,” as quoted by the state-run Tass news agency.

“Russia is not withdrawing from the negotiation process,” Peskov added, describing the alleged attack as an effort aimed “at disrupting President Trump’s efforts to promote a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict.”

After talks with Zelenskyy — which were preceded and followed by phone calls between Trump and Putin — at his Mar-a-Lago residence on Sunday, Trump told reporters that the negotiating teams are “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to achieving a peace deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion, which Moscow launched in February 2022.

Lavrov said that Russia does not intend to withdraw from the negotiation process following the alleged attack. But the foreign minister said that the “targets and timing of Russia’s retaliatory strike” had “been determined.”

Ukraine’s air force said on Tuesday that Russia launched two missiles and 60 drones into the country overnight into Tuesday morning, of which one missile and 52 drones were shot down or suppressed. One missile and eight drones impacted across five locations, the air force said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that four Ukrainian drones were shot down on Tuesday morning over the southern Krasnodar region.

The operational headquarters of the Krasnodar region reported on Telegram that two people sustained shrapnel injuries caused by drones. Drone wreckage fell on a railway station in the region, the headquarters said.

Rosaviatsiya — Russia’s federal air transport agency — reported temporary flight restrictions at Krasnodar airport.