Russia's defense ministry released video footage on Wednesday (December 31) of what it said was a downed drone at a briefing intended to show Ukraine tried this week to attack a presidential residence and challenge Kyiv's denials that such an attack took place.

Moscow

Russia's defense ministry released video footage it claims shows evidence of a Ukrainian drone attack targeting a presidential residence in the Novgorod region. The footage, presented at a briefing, included images of drone fragments and a Russian serviceman asserting the device was armed with explosives that did not detonate.

Ukraine has denied any involvement, with a foreign ministry spokesperson describing the footage as 'laughable' and stating there was no such attack. Reuters was unable to verify the location, date, or model of the device shown, and several Western officials have expressed skepticism regarding Russia's account.

Russia releases video footage to challenge Kyiv over alleged attack

Russia's defense ministry on Wednesday released video footage of what it said was a downed drone, at a briefing intended to show Ukraine tried this week to attack a presidential residence and challenged Kyiv's denials that such an attack took place. Kyiv has accused Russia of inventing the alleged attack to block progress at talks on ending the war. The Russian defense ministry video showed a senior officer setting out details of how Moscow says it believes Ukraine attacked one of President Vladimir Putin's residences in the Novgorod region. The video included footage of a Russian serviceman standing next to fragments of a device, which he said was a downed Ukrainian drone carrying an explosive device which had not detonated. The ministry did not explain how it knew what the device's target was. Reuters could not confirm the location and the date of the footage showing fragments of a destroyed device. And the model of the destroyed device could not be immediately verified. A spokesperson for Ukraine's foreign ministry, who spoke to Reuters, said the footage was quote, laughable, and added Kyiv was quote, absolutely confident that no such attack took place. Officials in several Western countries have cast doubt on Russia's version of events and questioned whether there was any attack.

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