Russia's statements about alleged “attacks” on the Valdai residence of Russian ruler Vladimir Putin are fake. No strikes took place there, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, according to UNIAN.
Responding to questions about what he believes prompted Moscow’s speculation regarding the alleged shelling of Putin’s Valdai residence, Zelenskyy says that he connects the Russian claims with the success of US-Ukraine peace talks.
“In my view, this is more connected to the fact that there was a rather positive meeting of our teams over the course of the month, the culmination of which was our meeting with President Trump,” Zelenskyy states.
The Ukrainian president says that Ukraine is also holding meetings with European leaders.
“We want to prepare everything, and God willing, then meet all together to take some steps forward toward ending the war. We want January to be a month when many different steps are taken,” he emphasizes.
Lithuania: Russia spreads fake attack claims to sabotage Trump-Zelenskyy Mar-a-Lago deal
"Deeply unpleasant": Condemnation of the attack that didn't happen
The Ukrainian president also says it was confusing and "deeply unpleasant" that some countries, such as India, the UAE, and several others, issued condemnations of “alleged Ukrainian drone strikes on Putin’s residence that never happened.”
“Where is their condemnation, by the way? Condemnation of the fact that our children are being shelled all this time, that people are being killed. I honestly don’t hear India now, nor the Emirates,” he adds.
Real assassination attempts against Zelenskyy
Since the start of the full-scale war, several assassination attempts have been made against President Zelenskyy. One of them was planned to take place in the Polish city of Rzeszów. Those involved were working for Russia’s FSB, specifically its 5th Service, according to SBU Head Vasyl Maliuk.
He stated that, in addition to targeting the president, Russian agents were gathering intelligence, transmitting it, and preparing assassination attempts against Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR), as well as against Maliuk himself, as per Suspilne.
Casualties inside the President's Office
Earlier, in an interview with The Guardian, President Zelenskyy had revealed that during assassination attempts in 2022, several people were killed inside the Office of the President.
When British and American officials offered to evacuate him from the capital amid fears that Kyiv could fall, Zelenskyy famously replied: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”
