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Russia finished 2025 with what Ukraine described arsenic an accusation cognition designed to debar engaging successful bid talks and proceed its war, contempt suffering staggering casualties for meagre territorial gains this year.
On Monday, December 29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin astatine his residence astatine Lake Valdai, 140km (87 miles) northeast of Moscow.
“The Kyiv authorities launched a violent onslaught utilizing 91 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) connected the authorities residence of the president of the Russian Federation successful the Novgorod Region. All the UAVs were destroyed by the aerial defence systems of the Russian Armed Forces,” said Lavrov successful a statement.
He did not accidental whether Putin was successful residence astatine the time.
Lavrov’s Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, rapidly dismissed the claim. “Almost a time passed and Russia inactive hasn’t provided immoderate plausible grounds to its accusations of Ukraine’s alleged ‘attack connected Putin’s residence’. And they won’t. Because there’s none. No specified onslaught happened,” Sybiha said.
Russia produced photographs of drone debris lying successful the snowfall 2 days later, but the drone’s location, manufacture and the clip of its downing could not beryllium corroborated from them.
“The onslaught connected Putin’s Valdai residence is presumably a Kremlin fake,” wrote the absorption outlet Sota. “Residents of Valdai, wherever Putin’s ‘Dinner’ residence is located, told Sota that past nighttime they did not perceive the enactment of the aerial defence, which would person changeable down 91 drones.”
Sota besides pointed retired that drones attacking Valdai “necessarily transverse a specially protected airspace with objects of the Strategic Missile Forces, East Kazakhstan region, subject aviation, closed administrative units specified arsenic Solnechny, Lake, etc.
“A drone crossing the territory of these facilities tin alert to the Dinner residence lone by miracle,” Sota said.
Lavrov’s assertion besides appeared astatine likelihood with an earlier announcement from the Russian Ministry of Defence that lone 41 drones had been downed successful the Novgorod portion connected the nighttime of December 28-29.
Russia’s Defence Ministry aboriginal issued an update, saying different 49 drones had been changeable down implicit Bryansk and 1 implicit Smolensk “flying successful the absorption of Novgorod region”.
Ukraine observers pointed retired that Bryansk and Smolensk are hundreds of kilometres from Valdai.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based deliberation tank, stated that nary of the accustomed grounds of Ukrainian strikes accompanied the alleged attack, specified arsenic footage, vigor signatures, statements from section officials, oregon section media reports.
For example, a palmy Ukrainian onslaught against an lipid depot successful Rybinsk connected December 31 was well-documented connected societal media. So was an onslaught connected the Novoshakhtinsk refinery successful Rostov a week earlier, arsenic good arsenic a fig of different strikes during the week.
(Al Jazeera)What truly happened?
News of the alleged onslaught came a time aft Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy concluded palmy talks with United States President Donald Trump successful Florida, garnering a committedness that US forces would enactment successful Ukraine’s information pursuing immoderate bid statement with Russia.
It was the archetypal clip the US had agreed to specified information guarantees, and it appeared to marque Polish Premier Donald Tusk optimistic that the warfare successful Ukraine could extremity aboriginal successful 2026.
“Peace is connected the horizon,” helium told a furniture gathering connected Tuesday.
“The cardinal effect of caller days is the American declaration… (of) willingness to enactment successful information guarantees for Ukraine aft a bid agreement, including the beingness of American troops, for example, connected the borderline oregon connected the enactment of interaction betwixt Ukraine and Russia,” Tusk said.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s allies, known arsenic the Coalition of the Willing, were scheduled to conscionable successful Kyiv connected January 3 and successful France 3 days later.
Lavrov’s announcement formed a pall connected this optimism erstwhile helium said, “Russia’s negotiating presumption volition beryllium reviewed.” On the aforesaid day, Putin ordered his forces successful confederate Ukraine to proceed efforts to prehend the unoccupied remainder of the confederate Ukrainian portion of Zaporizhia. Moscow controls three-quarters of the region.
Zelenskyy said Russia was “looking for a pretext” to escalate hostilities and debar engaging successful bid talks, pursuing his palmy gathering with Trump.
“Russia is astatine it again, utilizing unsafe statements to undermine each achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump’s team,” helium wrote connected societal media.
Russia has repeatedly dashed Trump’s hopes for peace, refusing to cede occupied territory oregon to judge US and European forces connected Ukrainian soil.
Yet Trump appeared to judge Moscow’s allegations.
“I don’t similar it. It’s not good,” Trump told reporters connected Monday. “It’s 1 happening to beryllium offensive… It’s different happening to onslaught his house. It’s not the close clip to bash immoderate of that. And I learned astir it from President Putin today. I was precise aggravated astir it.”
Other US officials were not convinced. US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker expressed scepticism, telling an interviewer connected Monday, “It’s unclear whether it really happened.” On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that US quality had determined that Ukraine did not people Putin’s residence.
Moscow’s messaging appeared to bookend Zelenskyy’s gathering with Trump, targeting the US president.
Putin held staged meetings with his General Staff connected Saturday, December 27, and Monday, conscionable earlier and aft Zelenskyy’s gathering with Trump, during which commander-in-chief Valery Gerasimov broadcast exaggerated claims of success.
He said Russian forces had occupied 6,640 quadrate kilometres (2,564 quadrate miles) of Ukrainian territory and seized 334 Ukrainian settlements successful 2025. The ISW said it had “observed grounds indicating a Russian beingness successful 4,952 quadrate kilometres (1912 sq miles)” and 245 settlements.
Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii said territory amounting to 0.8 percent of Ukraine’s 603,550sq km (233,032sq miles) had been lost. astatine the outgo of astir 420,000 dormant and wounded Russians.
Ukraine’s General Staff estimated full Russian casualties for the warfare astatine much than 1.2 million, astir 11,500 tanks and 24,000 armoured warring vehicles, much than 37,000 artillery systems, 781 craft and good successful excess of 4,000 missiles.
By the extremity of 2025, Russian forces had inactive not taken Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, the eastbound Ukrainian towns successful Donetsk that they had been warring to seizure for 5 months. They held 55 percent of Hulyaipole successful the confederate Zaporizhia region, contempt claiming to person seized it. Even Russian subject reporters admitted Russian forces were being squeezed retired of Kupiansk successful the bluish Kharkiv region, contempt claiming besides to person seized that.
“Due to inaccurate reports connected the concern to higher authorities, reserves that were ‘not needed’ for the seizure and clearing of Kupiansk were redeployed to different areas,” wrote 1 Kremlin-friendly outlet, citing “systematic exaggeration of successes”.
While it remained doubtful whether Ukraine did people Valdai, Russia’s attacks connected Ukrainian cities were documented. During the past week of the year, Russia launched conscionable much than 1,000 drones and 33 missiles astatine Ukraine’s cities. Ukraine’s Air Force said it intercepted 86 percent of the drones and 30 of the missiles.
(Al Jazeera)
(Al Jazeera)
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