MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky and his team would not have dared to attack the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin without direct orders and support from their external backers, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov (2010-2014) told TASS.
"They are not independent. They are puppets of either the Americans or, even more so now, the Europeans - specifically the British," Azarov said. "I would never believe that Zelensky and his entourage would dare to send such a large number of drones to a state residence without receiving a direct order, or that these drones would not have been accompanied."
He stressed that the target had been chosen deliberately. "This was not a random place or a random area. In other words, the entire operation was fully premeditated," Azarov said.
He also asserted that Zelensky’s remarks in his Christmas address suggested he was already aware of preparations for the attack at that time.
"I was struck by his Christmas greeting, which contained an utterly repugnant passage about the Russian leadership. This indicates that he already knew about preparations for such an operation," Azarov said. "Now he is trying to distance himself from the attack, but it is nothing more than pathetic babbling."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Monday that on the night of December 28-29, Ukraine had launched a terrorist attack on Putin’s residence in the Novgorod Region, employing 91 unmanned aerial vehicles. All drones were destroyed by air defenses; there were no reports of casualties or damage, Lavrov noted. The action was carried out by Kiev amid intensive negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict, the top Russian diplomat stressed.
In turn, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said that during a phone call with Trump, Putin drew attention to Kiev’s attack, which took place "almost immediately" after the US-Ukraine talks in Mar-a-Lago, and warned that it would not go "unanswered."
The Russian leader also told Trump that Moscow’s position in negotiations to resolve the conflict would be re-evaluated.