The daily cites statements by anonymous officials operating in the field of national security and a CIA assessment quoted by an American official.
According to the newspaper's source Ukraine wanted to attack a military target that had already been the subject of a previous attack and that was in the same region as, but not close to, Putin's residence.
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Why does Russia accuse Ukraine of attacking Putin's villa?
What does the CIA say about drone attacks?
What are Donald Trump's views on the attack?
What did Volodymyr Zelensky say about Russia's accusations?
Trump changes his mind about reports of an attack on Putin's villa
Earlier, President Donald Trump signaled a similar opinion by posting on his social networking site a link to a comment by the editorial board of the New York Post entitled “Putin's nonsense about an 'attack' shows that Russia stands in the way of peace.”
The article Trump posted quoted the president's words after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in Florida that the end of the war was “closer than ever before,” but — as the New York Post commented — “instead, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin chose lies, hatred and death.”
Trump, in his first public statement on the subject, during a meeting with the Israeli prime minister in Florida on Monday, suggested that he believed Putin and that he was “very angry” with Ukraine, and to the suggestion that Putin might have lied, he replied: “It's possible, but President Putin told me that was the case.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov originally claimed that Putin's residence in the Valdai region was attacked with 91 drones, all of which were supposed to be shot down. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky strongly denied these reports and accused Russia of lies aimed at torpedoing peace negotiations..
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that it had found a downed drone that was allegedly used to attack the residence of Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Valdai. The photos presented only showed the remains of the machine found in a forested area.
