Russia releases video of drone it says was used in alleged attack on Putin residenceYour support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA<\/a>) has told US<\/a> president Donald Trump<\/a> that Ukraine<\/a> did not attempt to assassinate Vladimir Putin<\/a>, contradicting Russian claims that Ukrainian drones targeted one of the Russian president\u2019s residences.<\/p>\n US intelligence assessed the allegation as false, indicating Putin misrepresented the incident.<\/p>\n Earlier, Russia<\/a> released videos of alleged drone wreckage and claimed it had decoded files proving the attack, but Ukraine called the footage \u201claughable\u201d and accused Moscow of staging the incident to derail the peace talks<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the two countries exchanged drone strikes on each other\u2019s energy grids<\/a> as the New Year began, according to local officials.<\/p>\n On New Year\u2019s Eve, Russia claimed Ukrainian drones struck a cafe and hotel in the occupied village of Khorly, Kherson region, killing 24 and injuring at least 50, with one drone reportedly carrying an incendiary mixture.<\/p>\n Ukraine denied targeting civilians, saying its strikes hit only Russian military and energy sites.<\/p>\n The incident occurred amid ongoing peace talks, which Kyiv says Russia is trying to sabotage, including false claims of a drone attack on Putin\u2019s residence. <\/p>\n <\/a>New Year drone strike in Russian-occupied Ukraine kills 24, Moscow says<\/p>\n On New Year\u2019s Eve 2025, Russia claimed Ukrainian drones struck a cafe and hotel in the occupied village of Khorly, Kherson region, killing 24 and injuring at least 50, with one drone reportedly carrying an incendiary mixture.<\/p>\n Ukraine denied targeting civilians, saying its strikes hit only Russian military and energy sites.<\/p>\n The incident occurred amid ongoing peace talks, which Kyiv says Russia is trying to sabotage, including false claims of a drone attack on Putin\u2019s residence.<\/p>\n President Zelensky said a deal was \u201c90 per cent ready,\u201d with remaining issues focused on territory, while US and European envoys work to advance security guarantees and deconfliction measures. <\/p>\n Maroosha Muzaffar2 January 2026 05:30<\/p>\n <\/a>Watch: Putin warns Russia will accomplish goals by force if Ukraine doesn\u2019t want to resolve conflict peacefullyPutin warns Russia will accomplish goals by force if Ukraine doesn\u2019t want to resolve conflict peacefully<\/p>\n Rebecca Whittaker2 January 2026 05:00<\/p>\n <\/a>Ukraine didn\u2019t try to kill Putin, CIA tells Trump<\/p>\n The CIA has told Donald Trump that Ukraine did not attempt to assassinate Vladimir Putin, contradicting Russian claims that Ukrainian drones targeted one of the Russian president\u2019s residences.<\/p>\n US intelligence assessed the allegation as false, indicating Putin misrepresented the incident amid the ongoing Ukraine war. <\/p>\n Maroosha Muzaffar2 January 2026 04:30<\/p>\n <\/a>Russia says Ukrainian drone strike kills 24 in occupied Ukraine as tensions grow amid peace talks<\/p>\n Rebecca Whittaker2 January 2026 04:00<\/p>\n <\/a>Ukrainian military says it attacks Russian military or energy sites<\/p>\n Kyiv’s forces exclusively targeted Russian military or energy sites, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said when asked about a drone strike on a hotel in a Russian-held part of Kherson region.<\/p>\n Speaking to Interfax Ukraine news agency on Thursday they said: “The Defence Forces of Ukraine adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law and strike exclusively at enemy military targets, fuel and energy facilities of the Russian Federation, and other legitimate targets…,” <\/p>\n Rebecca Whittaker2 January 2026 03:00<\/p>\n <\/a>Watch Russia-Ukraine War: One Year On<\/p>\n Sam Kiley, The Independent\u2019s World Affairs Editor, charts the 2025 Ukraine\u2013Russia war timeline, detailing battlefield shifts, strained diplomacy, wavering support and the mounting civilian toll \u2014 with no end in sight.<\/p>\n Russia-Ukraine War: One Year On<\/p>\n Rebecca Whittaker2 January 2026 02:00<\/p>\n <\/a>Zelensky reveals plans for three ‘peace’ meetings<\/p>\n A meeting of national security advisors \u201cfocused on peace\u201d is set to take place in Ukraine this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s set to be followed by a meeting of the military and of European leaders and the leaders of the Coalition of the Willing.<\/p>\n \u201cPolitically, almost everything is ready, and it is important to work through every detail of how the guarantees will function in the air, on land, and at sea \u2013 if we succeed in ending the war. And this is the key goal for all normal people,\u201d Zelensky said in a post on X.<\/p>\n Rebecca Whittaker2 January 2026 01:00<\/p>\n <\/a>Putin vows victory in Ukraine in defiant New Year\u2019s address<\/p>\n Putin used his annual televised New Year’s address to rally his troops fighting in Ukraine, saying he believed in them and in victory in a war that he has framed as part of an existential struggle with the West.<\/p>\n It comes as Trump is trying to broker an end to the nearly four-year-old conflict, Europe’s bloodiest conflagration since World War Two, with both sides’ negotiating stances still far apart.<\/p>\n Tara Cobham2 January 2026 00:00<\/p>\n <\/a>Residential building damaged in Russian attack on Odesa but no casualties, local official says<\/p>\n Russia attacked the Ukrainian region of Odesa overnight, targeting civilian infrastructure in several waves of drone attacks, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.<\/p>\n In a post on Telegram, he said a two-storey residential building was damaged and a drone hit an apartment on the 17th floor of a high-rise building without detonating. There were no casualties reported.<\/p>\n Tara Cobham1 January 2026 23:00<\/p>\n <\/a>In depth: Did Ukraine launch 91-drone attack on Putin\u2019s presidential residence \u2013 or is it a Russian show for Trump?<\/p>\n Russia<\/a>\u2019s claim that Ukraine launched a 91-drone strike on <\/a>Vladimir Putin<\/a>\u2019s personal residence has threatened to derail months of talks over a peace deal to end Moscow\u2019s invasion.<\/p>\n \u201cI am sure they are simply preparing the ground for strikes, probably on the capital, probably on government buildings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Tara Cobham1 January 2026 22:00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russia releases video of drone it says was used in alleged attack on Putin residenceYour support helps us…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-668338","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115823912072326816","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=668338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}