Washington [US], January 2: The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has concluded that Ukraine did not target Russian President Vladimir Putin or any of his residences in the recent controversial drone attack.
Anonymous sources cited by The Wall Street Journal , PBS, and CNN on December 31, 2025, stated that this assessment was based on CIA intelligence analysis. According to this analysis, the attack (if any) would have targeted only a military objective in the same area, but not near Putin 's residence , thus refuting serious accusations from Russia.
Ukraine denies any actions targeting President Putin personally, accusing Russia of exaggerating the situation to create a pretext for escalating hostilities and retaliating against government targets in Ukraine, amid ongoing peace negotiations.
On December 31, 2025, Russia for the first time released dubious evidence of the attack, including the remains of a UAV believed to be Ukrainian. Many experts doubted that the attack described by Russia had actually occurred as claimed.
Russia had previously claimed to have intercepted 91 long-range drones, calling it an "unsuccessful terrorist attack." The Kremlin said Putin had directly informed US President Donald Trump of the incident, and hinted at the possibility of Russia reconsidering its negotiating position.
However, the US side stated that Trump had received a detailed briefing from CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Subsequently, Trump unexpectedly shared a New York Post article on social media, strongly criticizing Russia and labeling Putin as the main obstacle to the peace process.
While tensions escalate, new rounds of diplomatic contact are still being planned. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a meeting of national security advisors from the "Voluntary Alliance" is scheduled for January 3rd in Ukraine, aimed at advancing efforts to end the nearly four-year-long conflict.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
