U.S. intelligence says Ukraine did not target Putin in alleged drone operation -WSJ

U.S. national security officials said available intelligence does not support Russia’s claim that Ukraine targeted President Vladimir Putin in an alleged drone operation, contradicting claims made by the Kremlin, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The assessment was reported Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. According to the report, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) review found no evidence that an attempted attack against Putin had taken place.

A U.S. official briefed on the matter told the WSJ that the intelligence did not support Moscow’s assertion. The CIA declined to comment, according to the Journal.

Russian officials had claimed that Ukrainian drones were launched with the intent of killing Putin at one of his residences, a claim Kyiv has denied.

Separately on Wednesday, President Trump shared on social media a link to an opinion piece published by the New York Post that argued Russia was using the alleged drone incident to justify a harder line in negotiations.

The opinion piece said Putin claimed Ukraine sought to kill him and that Russia therefore had no choice but to become “more rigid” in talks, language attributed to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The piece also cited recent Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian cities during Christmas, and noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has himself been repeatedly targeted by Russian forces.

It said Zelenskyy has denied any attempt to target Putin and argued that the alleged drone strike likely never occurred, citing the lack of evidence presented by Moscow.