A CIA report has dismissed Russian claims that Ukraine attempted to strike President Vladimir Putin's residence in the Novgorod region in a drone strike in late December. Russia's Defense Ministry said earlier that a technical examination of a drone shot down on December 29 had determined that the ultimate target of the strike was an object inside Putin's residence. Moscow said the data from the navigation system would be shared with the U.S.
Following this, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of an attempted attack on the presidential residence, using this as justification for a response from Russia.
However, according to the Wall Street Journal, the CIA in its report to US President Donald Trump assessed that the Ukrainian drones did not target Putin's residence. US intelligence determined that the target was a Russian military installation in the same area, but not near the residence.
The report also says that CIA Director John Ratcliffe briefed President Trump on these findings. Trump subsequently republished an article suggesting that “Russia is on the path to peace.”
So far, the findings reported by the media have not been officially confirmed by either the CIA or the White House.
