Media: Aftermath of the alleged attack on Putin's residence: Russia releases videos to accuse Kyiv and calm domestic public opinion and persuade Trump
The Russian Ministry of Defense released three videos on Wednesday, December 31, claiming they are evidence of a drone attack on President Vladimir Putin's summer residence by the lake of Valdai, about 360 kilometers from Moscow. The attack occurred during the night between Sunday, December 28, and Monday, December 29.
The first video, also the most important one, shows the wreckage of a drone. The footage was taken at night in a snow-covered forest, with a very close-up shot that makes it impossible to determine the exact location. Another video shows an officer responsible for air defense, who details the course of the attack. The last video features a witness who claims to live near Putin's residence, stating that he heard multiple explosions on the night of the attack.
The Ukrainian side has denied these so-called evidence. The video of the drone itself cannot prove anything because the location of the filming cannot be determined, and the European allies of Kyiv are unlikely to accept these videos. They accused Russia of fabricating the incident to disrupt negotiations led by the United States.
Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, told Reuters that the videos released by Russia on Wednesday were "absurd." "It's absurd that they took two days to come up with this video, and the so-called evidence essentially shows that they don't even take their fabricated story seriously," Tykhyi said. "We are completely certain that such an attack never happened."
Facing pressure to provide evidence, Russia publicly released the videos on Wednesday, but Reuters could not confirm the date and location of the video. However, for Moscow, the main goal is to convince the Russian public opinion and also target US President Trump. Currently, Trump has not yet questioned Putin's claim made during the call between the two heads of state on December 29.
Kaja Kallas, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, accused Moscow on Wednesday, saying it tried to "undermine the real peace process." She wrote on the social platform X that these "baseless accusations" were "a deliberate distraction."
Source: rfi
Original: toutiao.com/article/1853069462614028/
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