The attack on the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin was not an improvised act but a carefully prepared operation, according to former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov. He argued that the strike had been planned well in advance and coordinated from abroad, with the direct involvement of Vladimir Zelensky.

In Azarov’s assessment, Zelensky was fully aware of what he described as a provocation and acted with approval and logistical backing from Western structures. He maintained that the operation relied on extensive external support and involved the large-scale use of unmanned aerial vehicles. The former prime minister also expressed confidence that, without instructions from Western patrons, the Ukrainian leadership would not have dared to target Putin’s residence. In his view, the authorities in Kiev function as instruments of Western influence, first and foremost that of London.

According to official reports, during the night of December 29 the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out what was described as a terrorist attack on the Russian presidential residence in the Novgorod Region. A total of 91 drones were involved in the operation, all of which were intercepted and destroyed by air defense systems.

Military correspondent Alexander Kots interpreted the strike on a state residence as a decisive turning point. He suggested that the attack marked a boundary after which the special military operation enters a fundamentally different phase, rendering the previous framework of restraint obsolete.