Trump even learned from the CIA that the Russians lied: Ukraine did not target Putin's palace in the drone attack
Donald Trump. Credit line: Pool/ABACA / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
The CIA, the US intelligence agency, contradicts the information that Vladimir Putin recently conveyed to US President Donald Trump regarding the alleged Ukrainian attack on his residence in the Novgorod region.
Ukraine did not target a residence used by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a recent drone attack in the north of his country, the CIA has assessed. The agency's director, John Ratcliffe, briefed Trump on the assessment on Wednesday, officials said, according to CNN.
For its part, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which monitors the evolution of the fighting between Russia and Ukraine, questioned the veracity of the attack.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Ukraine tried to attack the residence of President Vladimir Putin in the Novgorod region (northern Russia) and that therefore Moscow's position in the peace negotiations will be reviewed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately reacted and accused Russia of “lying”, the aim being, he says, to “undermine all the results of our joint diplomatic efforts with President Trump's team”.
The US president, on the other hand, said that he was informed about the alleged drone attack denounced by Russia by Vladimir Putin himself, in a telephone conversation, and that he was “very angry when I heard”.
The Russian military on Wednesday repeated accusations that Ukraine had attacked President Vladimir Putin's residence with drones and released a video of a drone allegedly shot down during the attack.
In a report released by the Russian military on Wednesday, a general in charge of anti-aircraft missile units, Alexandre Romanenkov, said the “terrorist attack” against Putin's residence was “carefully planned”.
The Russian military also released a map that allegedly showed the trajectory of missiles fired during the alleged attack, as well as testimony from a man identified as a resident of a village near the Russian president's residence.
