Moscow claimed Tuesday that an alleged Ukrainian attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s home earlier this week was meant to derail the United States’s work to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
The supposed attack is “aimed at thwarting President [Donald] Trump’s efforts to promote a peaceful resolution” to the war, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Ukraine has roundly blasted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s claims it launched a drone attack at Putin’s home on Monday, likewise describing them as “another lie” from Moscow designed to sabotage peace efforts. Critics have suspected the attack is a Russian false flag operation that could be used as justification to increase the intensity of the war or even assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The accusations from Russia came a day after President Donald Trump appeared to make critical progress in negotiating a 20-point deal to end the war during a Florida meeting with Zelensky. And it came a day before Zelensky is scheduled to meet European leaders for talks centered on the possible peace deal.
On Tuesday, Peskov did not say whether Moscow would present physical evidence of the attack, suggesting that such a step would be a matter for Russia’s military to decide whether to present.
“I don’t think there needs to be any evidence here,” the Russian spokesman said.
Trump voiced his displeasure with the alleged Ukrainian attack after first hearing about it from Putin.
“I don’t like it,” he said. “It’s not good. I heard about it this morning. You know who told me about it? President Putin told me about it — early in the morning, he said he was attacked. It’s no good. It’s no good.”
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In the wake of the allegations, Moscow deployed its nuclear-capable hypersonic ballistic missile system in Belarus, which borders Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania.
The move, announced by Russia’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday, could bolster Moscow’s ability to deliver the new Oreshnik missiles across Europe. The advanced weapons system holds an estimated range of at least 3,100 miles.
