Russian claims of Ukrainian assault on authorities websites ‘unfounded’, EU’s prime diplomat says

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/21d8/live/cc0cb980-e655-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/21d8/live/cc0cb980-e655-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/21d8/live/cc0cb980-e655-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/21d8/live/cc0cb980-e655-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/21d8/live/cc0cb980-e655-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/21d8/live/cc0cb980-e655-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/21d8/live/cc0cb980-e655-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/21d8/live/cc0cb980-e655-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Reuters Head shot of European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas. She is looking slightly away from the camera. " class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Reuters Kaja Kallas accused the Kremlin of making an attempt to derail the peace course of with allegations of a Ukrainian assault on authorities websites

The EU's prime diplomat has referred to as Moscow's claims that Ukraine focused Russian authorities websites a "deliberate distraction" and an try and derail the peace course of.

Kaja Kallas' feedback on social media look like a reference to the Kremlin's allegation that Ukraine tried a drone strike on considered one of Vladimir Putin's residences.

"Nobody ought to settle for unfounded claims from the aggressor who has indiscriminately focused Ukraine's infrastructure and civilians," Kallas wrote on social media.

Earlier this week Moscow accused Ukraine of focusing on Putin's non-public dwelling on Lake Valdai in north-west Russia.

Russia would assessment its place within the ongoing peace negotiations in consequence, the Kremlin stated.

Since International Minister Sergei Lavrov first shared the claims, Russian state media and politicians have mentioned the alleged assault in more and more incendiary tones.

"The assault is a strike on the center of Russia," stated Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Russian parliament's defence committee. "After what [Ukraine] has performed, there could be no forgiveness."

Though the Kremlin initially stated it noticed no level in sharing proof of the alleged assault, on Wednesday the Russian military launched what it stated was proof of the tried strike.

It included a map allegedly exhibiting that the drones have been launched from the Sumy and Chernihiv areas of Ukraine and a video of a downed drone mendacity in snowy woodland.

The BBC hasn't been capable of confirm the footage, and it isn't doable to find the place it was taken.

The profile of the wrecked UAV (unmanned aerial automobile) bears similarities to Ukrainian-produced Chakluns – however as a result of the elements of the drone pictured are cheap and broadly obtainable on-line, they can't be conclusively to traced to the Ukrainian army.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/e518/live/c589e550-e656-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/e518/live/c589e550-e656-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/e518/live/c589e550-e656-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/e518/live/c589e550-e656-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/e518/live/c589e550-e656-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/e518/live/c589e550-e656-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/e518/live/c589e550-e656-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/e518/live/c589e550-e656-11f0-aae2-2191c0e48a3b.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Russian defence ministry A Russian defence ministry official sits in front of a large screen which shows a map, marked with the the alleged flight paths of the drones Russia says Ukraine launched at one of Putin's residences. " class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Russian defence ministry Russia's defence ministry launched a map which it claimed confirmed the trail of the drones launched by Ukraine

Russia's defence ministry additionally launched a video of what it stated was a neighborhood resident who described listening to noises like a rocket on the time of the alleged assault.

Nevertheless, one Russian investigative media outlet stated it had spoken to greater than a dozen residents of the realm round Putin's residence and none had heard something that would point out 91 drones had approached or been shot down by air defences.

"If one thing like that had occurred, the entire metropolis would have been speaking about it," one individual instructed the outlet.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has strenuously denied the allegations, tying them to the continuing US-led course of to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine.

In current weeks the American and Ukrainian delegations have been working carefully and Zelensky has expressed cautious optimism that his nation's calls for have been going to be taken under consideration.

In his view, he stated on Tuesday, the claims concerning the drone assault on Putin's Valdai residence have been about "the truth that over the previous month there have been fairly profitable talks and a optimistic assembly between our groups, culminating in our assembly with President Trump."

Russia needed to disrupt the "optimistic momentum" between the US and Ukraine, Zelensky stated.

When the claims emerged Zelensky additionally warned that the alleged drone strike can be used as an excuse to hold out strikes on Kyiv and Ukrainian authorities buildings. In a single day on Wednesday air alerts briefly rang out within the capital as a drone approached, however no hits or injury have been reported.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/aaae/live/20c830b0-e653-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/aaae/live/20c830b0-e653-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/aaae/live/20c830b0-e653-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/aaae/live/20c830b0-e653-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/aaae/live/20c830b0-e653-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/aaae/live/20c830b0-e653-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/aaae/live/20c830b0-e653-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/aaae/live/20c830b0-e653-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="State Emergency Service of Ukraine A heavily damaged apartment block" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> State Emergency Service of Ukraine On 30 December Odesa suffered an intense assault which left a number of civilians injured

As a substitute, a number of areas throughout the nation have been hit by drones and Odesa on the Black Sea suffered a large-scale assault which noticed an condominium block hit and 6 folks injured, together with three youngsters. Greater than 170,000 have been additionally left with out energy as temperatures struggled to push previous 0C.

Odesa has been coming below sustained assault for a number of weeks. The depth of the strikes seems to have elevated since Putin's menace in early December to chop off Ukraine's entry to the ocean in retaliation for drone assaults on tankers of Russia's "shadow fleet" within the Black Sea.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/fbc2/live/adc34050-e64d-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/fbc2/live/adc34050-e64d-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/fbc2/live/adc34050-e64d-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/fbc2/live/adc34050-e64d-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/fbc2/live/adc34050-e64d-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/fbc2/live/adc34050-e64d-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/fbc2/live/adc34050-e64d-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/fbc2/live/adc34050-e64d-11f0-b3a5-3b3d8d2e34ff.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Three teenage girls singing carols in folkloristic clothes" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Mariya, Yuliya and Diana sang carols in considered one of Kyiv's squares to lift cash for the Ukrainian armed forces

With hours to go till the tip of one other 12 months of battle, many in Kyiv solely had one want for 2026.

"We hope that every one of this can finish. We would like this to be over and to stay as we did earlier than," 26-year-old Mariya stated.

Standing exterior the golden-domed St Sophia monastery in Kyiv, she added: "We've got a really lovely nation with monumental potential. Our power is in our folks, and that's the reason we hold going."

As she spoke, teenage carollers close by sang Christmas songs, amassing donations for the armed forces. "All of us need victory to come back in 2026. It is our united want," stated one.

Zelensky has expressed the will for peace negotiations to renew and speed up early in January with the involvement of each American and European officers. However any deal will finally want Russian buy-in, which doesn't appear forthcoming – and which the alleged drone incident over Putin's residence could have pushed additional into the space.

So might subsequent 12 months actually convey peace? "We actually hope so, however we won't say for sure. We're doing every little thing we will," Mariya stated.