Lawmakers have labeled the attempted strike an act of “state terrorism” and a bid to disrupt peace efforts
Russian officials have denounced a Ukrainian drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s state residence as an act of “state terrorism,” saying it sought to sabotage ongoing peace efforts between Moscow and Washington.
Moscow revealed late on Monday that the Ukrainian military had fired a barrage of 91 long-range kamikaze drones overnight at Putin’s residence in Novgorod Region. All of the UAVs were downed by air defenses. The Kremlin said the “reckless terrorist actions” by Ukrainian forces “will, naturally, not be without consequences, [without] the most serious response.” US President Donald Trump said he was “very angry” about the attack. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has strongly denied the attack.
Here’s what Russian officials say about the incident.
Maria Zakharova, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
Commenting on media reports that Zelensky has tried to distance himself from responsibility for the attack, Zakharova wrote on Telegram that his earlier statements on events such as the massacre of civilians in the town of Bucha near Kiev and allegations about “children allegedly stolen by Russia” were “lies.”
Those lies include “Zelensky’s statements about the alleged unwillingness of the Russian side to conduct negotiations,” she wrote, adding that the “Kiev regime” will answer for all of its crimes.
Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee
Slutsky, who leads the LDPR party, called the strike on the presidential residence “an act of state terrorism” and a demonstration of the “agony and complete degradation of the Zelensky regime.” He claimed that the European “party of war” was its “direct accomplices.”
He argued that “the handwriting of the terrorists does not change,” linking the raid to previous episodes he described as provocations around earlier rounds of negotiation. Slutsky told RT the latest attack came “after the actual failure of Zelensky’s plan in Florida in talks with [US President Donald] Trump” and amounted to “a provocation not only against Russia, but also an undermining of the American side’s peace efforts.”
Sergey Mironov, chairman of the A Just Russia – For Truth party
Given the number of drones involved, the strike on Putin’s residence is not a warning and not an attempt to put pressure within the framework of negotiations, but an attempt at the Russian president’s “physical elimination,” Mironov said.
He described the attack as “an act of desperation by the Kiev dictator Zelensky and his regime,” claiming that they had been “driven into a corner” and that “the only way out is capitulation.”
Mironov argued that Kiev was unlikely to have acted alone, saying he was “sure” that “their European masters” had given the green light. He called for “decisive actions,” including a strike not only on Ukraine’s military machine but also on its “terrorist leadership,” and reiterated his view that the conflict should be given the status of an anti-terrorist operation.
Aleksey Zhuravlev, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee
Zhuravlev said the incident showed that Kiev “will stop at nothing in order not to end the war,” and that Ukraine’s leadership was not constrained “by moral principles or any rules of warfare.” He argued that their “terrorist activity will only increase” and that they would try to strike “significant targets.”
The leader of the Rodina (Motherland) party stated that it was “long overdue” to respond at least symmetrically against the main government buildings in Kiev, including Zelensky’s office on Bankovaya [Street],” which he noted had remained untouched “since the very beginning” of the conflict.
Dmitry Belik, member of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee
Belik told RT that the drone raid amounted to “an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack against the conclusion of peace.” Kiev’s leadership was seeking to “disrupt peace efforts and complicate the negotiation process,” he said, accusing the Ukrainian authorities of choosing “the path of terror and violence” instead of constructive dialogue and compromise.
Vitaly Milonov, State Duma deputy
“The Ukrainian terrorist regime is ready for any escalation in order to keep the bloody meat grinder running, grinding up its own people to preserve power for an illegitimate leadership,” Milonov said.
He argued that the raid “crosses out Russia’s generous and patient attitude” to options for ending the conflict, but “does not mean” that Moscow would leave the negotiating process. The attack on Putin’s state residence is “a slap in the face of the US and President Trump, who are trying to find a dignified way out of the deadlock for the Kiev junta,” he added.
Read the full article here