A Kremlin puppet has ranted on Russian national television, claiming American spooks from the CIA were behind the claimed attack on Vladimir Putin’s official residence. Moscow claimed a home used by Putin in the Novgorod region was subject to a drone attack in the last few days of December. Both Ukraine and the West denied any involvement in the incident, with Kyiv’s President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissing it as “typical Russian lies” and a senior EU official calling the alleged attack a “deliberate distraction”.
No official proof of any American connection has been provided by the Kremlin regarding the incident; however, if Washington were found to have direct involvement in any attack on Putin, it’s possible this could spark a direct conflict, leading to World War III breaking out between the US and Russia.
It comes after American special forces launched an audacious operation against another world leader on January 3. Former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were snatched from the capital Caracas in the dead of night and flown back to the US to face court charges.
Firebrand presenter Vladimir Solovyov, known for his vocal threats against the West, including Britain, claimed that President Donald Trump can’t say that “Russia are telling the truth” over the apparent drone attack on Putin’s home.
Speaking on Russia state TV, Solovyov said “his (Trump’s) intelligence agency, the CIA, is lying”, before raising his voice and angrily shouting: “The CIA cannot tell the truth because one of the American experts is behind the strike on our president’s residence.
“Trump is playing political games, by the way, we aren’t helping him, we aren’t helping him at all… he might want our help, but we don’t have to help him, we have to consider our national interests.”
Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Trump told reporters US officials had determined that Ukraine did not target a residence belonging to Putin, disputing Kremlin claims that Trump had initially greeted with deep concern.
Trump’s downplaying of the incident came after he initially said he was “very angry” about the claim following a phone call with Putin after the alleged attack.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Ukraine launched a wave of drones at Putin’s state residence in the northwestern Novgorod region that the Russian defence systems were able to defeat. Lavrov also criticised Kyiv for launching the attack at a moment of intensive negotiations to end the war.
The allegation came just a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had travelled to Florida for talks with Trump on the US administration’s still-evolving 20-point plan aimed at ending the war.
Trump said that “something happened nearby” Putin’s residence, but that American officials didn’t find that the Russian president’s residence was targeted.
“I don’t believe that strike happened,” Trump told reporters as he travelled back to Washington on Air Force One after spending two weeks at his home in Florida.
He added: “We don’t believe that happened, now that we’ve been able to check.”
European officials argued that the Russian claim was nothing more than an effort by Moscow to undermine the peace effort.
