Ukraine war live: Zelenskyy denies Russian accusation that Putin’s residence was attacked by Ukrainian drones

Zelenskyy says accusation that Putin’s residence in Novgorod was attacked by Ukraine is a lie

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed the accusation that Ukraine tried to attack Putin’s residence as a lie, adding that Moscow was preparing the ground to strike government buildings in Kyiv, according to the Reuters news agency.

Zelenskyy has urged the US to react to Russian threats accordingly and has cast the Russian claim as a way of undermining progress in peace talks following the Ukrainian leader’s meeting with Donald Trump yesterday. We will give you more on this as we have it.

We’ll draw the blog to a close here. A recap of today’s events:

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Russia says it’s “revising” its position on a peace deal after claiming Ukraine sent drones to attack Putin’s presidential residence in Novgorod last night

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The claim comes just hours after Trump-Zelenskyy talks at Mar-a-Lago which were described by both the US and Ukraine as very positive

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Zelenskyy says Russia is manufacturing a false reason to justify further attacks on Ukraine and undermine peace talks and diplomacy

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Earlier today the Ukrainian president revealed that the US had committed to security guarantees of 15 years for his country– although ideally he would like those protections extended up to 50 years

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Putin and Trump had a call on Monday, following the Zelenskyy visit, which was described as “positive” by the White House press secretary

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The US is yet to comment more extensively though on that conversation, and has not yet remarked on this supposed attack on Putin’s residence

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Due to Russia’s promises of retaliation for the “fake” attack, Ukraine is bracing for more heavy strikes on its capital and government buildings. Just two days ago, Russia launched an onslaught of strikes on Kyiv, targeting energy sources and residential buildings.

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The Kremlin says Putin informed Trump about the drone attack in their phone call today, and that this was leading to a change in their position on a peace deal.

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Putin told Trump that he still wants to work with the US on a peace deal but the attack had forced a revision of their position, says Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov.

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Ukraine has already labelled the supposed attack as “fake” and a “lie”, with Zelenskyy saying Russia has come out with this story to undermine the US-Ukrainian work on a deal to end the war.

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Putin and Trump have had a phone call today– which the White House has described as being “positive”.

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Just now, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X: “President Trump has concluded a positive call with President Putin concerning Ukraine.”

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Her statement has come just shortly after Russia accused Ukraine of this drone attack on Putin’s presidential residence in northern Russia.

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Putin also had a call with Trump the day before Zelenskyy flew into Florida.

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Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has claimed that Ukraine tried to attack Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region and so the Kremlin’s negotiating position would now change, Interfax has reported.

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He said that Ukraine attacked the Russian president’s state residence with 91 long-range drones on 28-29 December, without offering evidence. “Such reckless actions will not go unanswered,” Lavrov was quoted as having said, adding that all the drones were destroyed by Russian air defences.

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The Russian foreign minister said that despite the alleged attack, Moscow intends to continue in the negotiating process to bring an end to the war.

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We have not yet been able to independently verify the information in the report.

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Vladimir Putin has signed changes into Russian law that allows Russia the right to ignore judgments in criminal cases handed down by international courts.

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It appears to be in reaction to several initiatives to go after Russian officials and military officers for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

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The international criminal court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant in March 2023 against Vladimir Putin for allegedly illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. The warrant obliges the court’s 124 member states to arrest the Russian president and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory. The Kremlin says the allegation is false.

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Under the new changes signed off by Putin on Monday, Moscow will have the right under its own legislation to ignore rulings in criminal cases taken by foreign courts on behalf of foreign governments.

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Rulings issued by international legal bodies whose authority is not based on an international agreement with Russia or a UN security council resolution can also be ignored under the changes

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Ukraine is pushing for robust security guarantees from the west in order to deter future Russian attacks. The war, close to reaching its fourth year next February, has had a huge human cost to both sides and conscription is needed to mobilise people to fight.

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The Russian defence ministry has said that the autumn 2025 military conscription has now ended, with 135,000 people drafted, Russian state news agency Tass reports.

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“The 2025 autumn call-up of citizens for military service is over. Pursuant to Decree No. 690 of September 29, 2025 issued by the president of Russia, 135,000 conscripts were called up for military service in the Russian Armed Forces and other troops and military formations in the fall of this year,” the ministry said in a statement.

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“Most conscripts were assigned to training units and military formations where they will learn to operate modern military hardware and get a military specialty … Special attention was paid to manning scientific and research-production units, and also sports companies. A total of 680 recruits were assigned to scientific and research-production units while 240 conscripts from the country’s national teams in Olympic disciplines joined sports companies,” the ministry said.

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Putin speaks to soldiers at the ceremony of awarding the Gold Star medal of the Hero of Russia in Moscow, in December 2025.”,”caption”:”Vladimir Putin speaks to soldiers at the ceremony of awarding the Gold Star medal of the Hero of Russia in Moscow, in December 2025.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Russia calls up conscripts in the spring and autumn. In 2023, the Russian parliament voted to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30 from 27, increasing the number of young men liable for a year of compulsory military service.

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In the autumn of 2022, tens of thousands of men fled Russia after Vladimir Putin announced a mobilisation of 300,000 reservists to prop up Moscow’s forces in Ukraine.

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Just a quick recap of what we learnt about the shape of the security guarantees in Zelenskyy and Trump’s talks on Sunday.

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Zelenskyy said Trump had indicated he would consider extending US security guarantees beyond 15 years – the first indication of a time frame around them

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Ukraine is looking for a longer commitment – up to 50 years – so that they can actually be an effective deterrent against more Russian aggression

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Details of the security guarantees have not become public but Zelenskyy said they include how a peace deal would be monitored as well as the “presence” of partners. He didn’t elaborate.

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For context, Russia has repeatedly said it would not accept the deployment to Ukraine of troops from NATO countries.

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France’s Macron on Monday said Kyiv’s allies would meet in Paris likely next week to “finalise each country’s concrete contributions” to security guarantees

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No comment from the US yet on the 15-year detail revealed by Zelenskyy.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday he considered the presence of foreign troops in Ukraine to be a necessary part of security guarantees for Kyiv as part of any deal to end the war.

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“I believe that the presence of international troops is a real security guarantee, it is a strengthening of the security guarantees that our partners are already offering us,” Zelenskyy told reporters.

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European leaders said earlier this month that Europe is ready to lead a “multinational force” in Ukraine as part of a US proposal for a peace agreement.

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The leaders of the UK, France, Germany and eight other European countries said troops from a “coalition of the willing” with US support could “assist in the regeneration of Ukraine’s forces, in securing Ukraine’s skies, and in supporting safer seas, including through operating inside Ukraine”.

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In an interview with the Russian state news agency Tass published on Sunday, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said any European troop contingents sent to Ukraine would be considered by Russian forces as legitimate military targets.

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Lavrov said:

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These ambitions (of European officials) have literally blinded them. Not only do they not care about the Ukrainians but they do not care about their people either.

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This is the only way to explain the fact that there is still talk in Europe about sending military forces to Ukraine as part of the so-called coalition of the willing. We have said many times that in this case our armed forces would view them as a legitimate target.

n

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The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists this morning that Moscow agreed with Donald Trump’s assessment that talks to end the war were in their final stage.

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As a reminder, Trump said a draft agreement to end the war was nearly “95% done”. “I really think we are closer than ever with both sides,” he said, though he added that “one or two very thorny issues” remain.

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Although the Kremlin says it agrees that negotiations are yielding results, Moscow has so far refused to budge from its maximalist demands throughout the talks, making a real chance for a lasting peace elusive.

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The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also said that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will hold another phone call “very soon” after the two leaders spoke before the US president had his meeting with Zelenskyy in Florida yesterday.

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Writing on Truth Social before the meeting with Zelenskyy on Sunday, Trump described his one-hour-15-minute call with his Russian counterpart as “good and very productive”. We do not know when the next Trump-Putin phone call will take place.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said on Monday that control over Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region remains another unresolved issue.

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Moscow controls about 75% of the Donetsk region, and about 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk (known collectively as Donbas).

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The Kremlin said on Monday that Ukraine should withdraw its troops from the part of Donbas that it still controls if it wanted peace and that if Kyiv did not reach a deal then it would lose more territory.

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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on the idea of a free economic zone in Donbas when asked this morning. Zelenskyy said earlier this month that the US wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the Donbas region, and Washington would then create a “free economic zone” in the parts Kyiv controls.

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Speaking to reporters yesterday, Zelenskyy said we “have to respect our law and our people” and the “territory which we control”.

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“And of course, our attitude is very clear,” he added. “That’s why President Trump said this is a very tough question.”

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Trump also described Donbas as an “unresolved” issue, but said they were “getting a lot closer” to reaching an agreement.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed this morning that control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – Europe’s biggest – remained unresolved.

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Donald Trump said the status of the Russian-occupied plant was discussed “at length” yesterday.

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Speaking to reporters about the plant after the bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy ended, the US president said: “President Putin is actually working with Ukraine on getting it open.”

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“He’s been very good in that sense. He wants to see that open.” “He hasn’t hit it with missiles,” Trump added.

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Under the US plan to end the war, the US, Russia and Ukraine would run the facility and profit from it jointly, but Kyiv reportedly wants to exclude Russia and operate the plant on equal footing with Washington.

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Zelenskyy also said he wants Kyiv to host a meeting with European and American officials in the “coming days” to work on documents to end the war.

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“We want this meeting to take place, and I believe we will do everything possible for it to finally be held in Ukraine,” Zelensky told journalists a day after the Florida talks with Trump, adding that the meeting would be “at the adviser level”.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also told reporters this morning that a meeting with Russia would be possible after the US and European leaders agreed on a Ukraine-proposed peace plan to end the war.

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Donald Trump told the media yesterday he believed that there could be a trilateral meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the US “at the right time” and appeared to suggest that Russian President Vladmir Putin “wants to see it happen”.

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Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin have not met since December 2019. The meeting, mediated by the leaders of France and Germany, aimed to revive efforts to resolve Kyiv’s then five-year conflict with Russian-backed separatists who had held a broad swath of south-eastern Ukraine since 2014.

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In May 2025, the Russian president declined to travel to Istanbul for talks with Zelenskyy, rejecting the Ukrainian president’s bold proposal for a face-to-face meeting in Turkey to discuss peace.

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We are restarting our live coverage of the war in Ukraine and the diplomatic efforts to bring it to an end after nearly four years of conflict following the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters via WhatsApp this morning that he asked Donald Trump to provide security guarantees of up to 50 years during their high stakes meeting at the US president’s residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, yesterday.

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Zelenskyy said that, instead, a draft peace framework envisages US security guarantees for Ukraine for 15 years.

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It is not clear what form these commitments would take, but the Ukrainian leader has been pushing for “article-5-like” security guarantees from Europe and the US, referring to Nato’s founding principle that an attack on one member should be seen as an attack on all.

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Zelenskyy has said US security guarantees for Ukraine under the revised 20-point proposal to end the war have been 100% agreed, though Trump was more cautious, putting the figure at more like 95%.

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Both leaders said progress had been made during the Florida talks and stressed that the lengthy peace talks would continue. Trump, however, cautioned there were “one or two tough” outstanding issues, including over territory, and expressed sympathy with Russia not wanting a ceasefire. “You have to understand the other side,” he said.

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Trump said that a proposal to turn eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, which Russia largely controls, into a demilitarised zone remains “unresolved”, adding that it will become clear within weeks if the war can end.

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Stay with us as we bring you all the latest news updates and analysis.

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Closing summary

Frances Mao

We’ll draw the blog to a close here. A recap of today’s events:

Russia says it’s “revising” its position on a peace deal after claiming Ukraine sent drones to attack Putin’s presidential residence in Novgorod last night
The claim comes just hours after Trump-Zelenskyy talks at Mar-a-Lago which were described by both the US and Ukraine as very positive
Zelenskyy says Russia is manufacturing a false reason to justify further attacks on Ukraine and undermine peace talks and diplomacy
Earlier today the Ukrainian president revealed that the US had committed to security guarantees of 15 years for his country– although ideally he would like those protections extended up to 50 years
Putin and Trump had a call on Monday, following the Zelenskyy visit, which was described as “positive” by the White House press secretary
The US is yet to comment more extensively though on that conversation, and has not yet remarked on this supposed attack on Putin’s residence
Due to Russia’s promises of retaliation for the “fake” attack, Ukraine is bracing for more heavy strikes on its capital and government buildings. Just two days ago, Russia launched an onslaught of strikes on Kyiv, targeting energy sources and residential buildings.

Luke Harding

Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Monday of trying to sabotage peace talks and preparing to bomb government buildings after the Kremlin said it had foiled a Ukrainian drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s residence.

Zelenskyy described the Russian claim as “another lie”. He said he was “expecting” some kind of scandal following his two-hour meeting on Sunday with Donald Trump in Florida, where “progress” was made towards ending the conflict.

“They do not want to finish this war,” he said. He warned that a Russian strike on government complexes in the capital was now probable, similar to a bombing in September of the cabinet ministers’ building in central Kyiv.

Earlier, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, claimed Ukraine had tried to hit Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region, south of St Petersburg. As a result Moscow’s negotiating position would be reviewed, he said.

Some more reported by Russian state media too on the Trump-Putin call.

All of the information we’re getting so far on this call is from the Russian side, from their foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov who gave out certain details earlier.

RIA is reporting Ushakov saying that Trump was “shocked” by the supposed attack and called it “insane”, and that Kyiv’s alleged action would “influence Washington’s approach to working with Zelenskyy”.

So this is what Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said of the attack on Putin’s residence – which Ukraines immediately denounced as a lie by Moscow to undermine peace talks.

Lavrov claimed that Ukraine had sent 91 drones to attack the presidential residence in Novgorod on Sunday night – all of which were shot down by air defence.
Due to this attack, Russia is “revising” its position on peace negotiations
Putin told Trump about the attack in a phone call on Monday, and told the US president Russia was amending its views
US yet to offer any comment on the supposed attack
Zelenskyy denied Lavrov’s report immediately and said Putin was using it as “false justification” for more strikes on Kyiv and government buildings
Lavrov confirmed in his comments that “retaliatory” targets and attack timings had been selected already

There is no independent evidence of this supposed attack from Ukraine on Putin’s northern residence so far – the only information has come from Lavrov. Meanwhile Russia launched a heavy attack on Kyiv just two days ago.

We’re also yet to see any images or visuals of this claimed drone attack on Putin’s residence in Novgorod – which Ushakov said happened on Sunday night after the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting in Florida.

I’ll get the main details from what foreign minister Lavrov is claiming happened to you soon.

No word yet from the White House on this reported drone attack on Putin’s Novgorod residence. The Kremlin says Putin did raise it in his call with Trump. Ukraine’s Zelenskyy has said it’s a complete lie.

Leavitt’s social media post from less than an hour ago only mentioned that the “positive call” had concluded. No readout or further details yet.

Trump was shocked when Putin told him about the drone attack on the presidential residence in Novgorod, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said.

He reiterated that Putin had told Trump that Russia’s position would be “reviewed” on a number of a positions – “this was stated very clearly”.

Zelenskyy has quickly scotched Russia’s report of a Ukrainian attack on Putin’s residence as “a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kyiv, as well as Russia’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war.”

He said he had also discussed the matter with German chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has also posted on X in the last 20 minutes saying:

Russian manipulations regarding the alleged “attempt to attack Putin’s residence” are fabricated for only one reason: to create a pretext and false justification for Russia’s further attacks against Ukraine, as well as to undermine and impede the peace process.

Usual Russian tactic: accuse the other side of what you are doing or planning yourself.

First, Russia has already struck the Ukrainian government building this year.

Second, Ukraine only strikes legitimate military targets in the Russian territory—in response to Russian strikes at Ukraine.

Third, Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine is the country that has been attacked and defends itself according to article 51 of the UN Charter. There can be no false equivalence between the aggressor and the country defending itself.

We urge the world to condemn provocative Russian statements aimed at derailing the constructive peace process. Ukraine remains committed to peace efforts led by the United States, with the participation of European partners.”

Putin told Trump he’s revising position after claimed drone attack on presidential residence

The Kremlin says Putin informed Trump about the drone attack in their phone call today, and that this was leading to a change in their position on a peace deal.

Putin told Trump that he still wants to work with the US on a peace deal but the attack had forced a revision of their position, says Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov.

Ukraine has already labelled the supposed attack as “fake” and a “lie”, with Zelenskyy saying Russia has come out with this story to undermine the US-Ukrainian work on a deal to end the war.

Putin and Trump held call day after Zelenskyy meeting

Putin and Trump have had a phone call today– which the White House has described as being “positive”.

Just now, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X: “President Trump has concluded a positive call with President Putin concerning Ukraine.”

Her statement has come just shortly after Russia accused Ukraine of this drone attack on Putin’s presidential residence in northern Russia.

Putin also had a call with Trump the day before Zelenskyy flew into Florida.

Zelenskyy says Russia’s report of this supposed attack, immediately after his positive meeting with Trump, has been done to undermine the progress made in Florida.

Russia was using “dangerous statements” to “undermine” Ukraine-US diplomatic relations, Zelenskyy said.

As a reminder, Trump yesterday had said a peace agreement was 95% there (despite there being no progress on the main issue of territory in the Donbas region).

Some more from Zelenskyy responding to Moscow’s claim that Ukraine attacked Putin’s residence in northern Russia overnight.

The Ukrainian leader warned his people to be on guard for fresh strikes, saying this was “another lie” from Russia now to justify new attacks on Kyiv.

“They’re simply preparing the ground to carry out strikes, probably on the capital and probably on government buildings,” Zelenskyy told journalists.

“Everyone needs to be alert now, absolutely everyone. A strike on the capital may be carried out, especially since this person [Putin]… said they will choose corresponding targets.”

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergio Lavrov, said Russia had chosen targets in Ukraine for “retaliation strikes”.

Zelenskyy says accusation that Putin’s residence in Novgorod was attacked by Ukraine is a lie

Russia says Ukraine tried to attack Vladimir Putin’s residence with drones

The Russian foreign minister said that despite the alleged attack, Moscow intends to continue in the negotiating process to bring an end to the war.

We have not yet been able to independently verify the information in the report.

Speaking after meeting senior Russian military officials on the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said Moscow is continuing with its plan to capture Ukrainian regions it announced the annexation of in 2022 and is making steady progress in that effort.

“The goal of liberating the Donbas, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions is being carried out in stages, in accordance with the plan of the special military operation. … The troops are confidently advancing,” Putin said.

Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with senior military officers at the Kremlin in Moscow. Photograph: Mikhail Metzel/AP

The Russian leader also told his army on Monday to press on with a military campaign to take full control of the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine (Moscow controls about 75% of the wider region).

In 2022, Moscow claimed to have annexed four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia – which marked the largest forcible takeover of territory in Europe since the second world war. Ukraine responded to the illegal annexations at the time by asking Nato to speed up giving it membership of the US-led defence alliance.

Frances Mao

Frances Mao is a Guardian reporter and live blogger

Putin and the Kremlin continue to trumpet their advances in Ukraine with publicised, performative meetings like the one televised on Russian state broadcasters just now.

But the situation on the ground is far from that as the Institute for the Study of War’s analysts make clear in their latest briefing.

“Putin and high-ranking Russian military commanders continue to aggrandize tactical details to create the false impression that Ukrainian defenses across the frontline are on the verge of collapse,” write the ISW’s analysts.
They note that a televised 27 December meeting between Putin and army commanders was likely timed to fall on the eve of Trump and Zelenskyy’s 28 December meeting to influence Trump.
“Putin, Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov, and the GoF commanders made a series of likely exaggerated claims about Russian successes across the battlefield”, claiming to have seized Myrnohrad (east of Pokrovsk), Rodynske (north of Pokrovsk), and Vilne (east of Dobropillya).

A drone view shows damaged buildings in Myrnohrad in the Donetsk Region. This image was obtained from a video released on 15 December 2025 but the date when the video was filmed could not be independently verified. Photograph: Obtained by Reuters/Reuters

The ISW estimated Russian forces were advancing at an average 14 square kilometres per day in 2025, meaning it would take them until April 2029 to seize the rest of the four oblasts at that rate.

“This calculation, however, does not take into account the many obstacles Russian forces would face along the way, such as crossing the Dnipro River, overcoming other water features throughout the oblasts, and seizing the major cities of Zaporizhzhia city (with a pre-war population of about 710,000 people) and Kherson city (with a pre-war population of about 280,000).”

In June, Ukraine and the Council of Europe human rights body signed an agreement which formed the basis for a special tribunal intended to bring to justice senior Russian officials for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Ukraine has demanded the creation of such a body since Russia’s full-scale invasion was launched in February 2022, accusing Russian soldiers of committing thousands of war crimes.

Putin signs changes into law to let Russia ignore foreign criminal courts

Vladimir Putin has signed changes into Russian law that allows Russia the right to ignore judgments in criminal cases handed down by international courts.

It appears to be in reaction to several initiatives to go after Russian officials and military officers for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Under the new changes signed off by Putin on Monday, Moscow will have the right under its own legislation to ignore rulings in criminal cases taken by foreign courts on behalf of foreign governments.

Rulings issued by international legal bodies whose authority is not based on an international agreement with Russia or a UN security council resolution can also be ignored under the changes

Ukraine war live: Zelenskyy denies Russian accusation that Putin’s residence was attacked by Ukrainian drones

Zelenskyy says accusation that Putin’s residence in Novgorod was attacked by Ukraine is a lie

Closing summary

Putin told Trump he’s revising position after claimed drone attack on presidential residence

Putin and Trump held call day after Zelenskyy meeting

Zelenskyy says accusation that Putin’s residence in Novgorod was attacked by Ukraine is a lie

Russia says Ukraine tried to attack Vladimir Putin’s residence with drones

Putin signs changes into law to let Russia ignore foreign criminal courts

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