Russia’s defence ministry also released a video of what it said was a local resident who described hearing a rocket-like noise at the time of the alleged attack.
However, one Russian investigative media outlet said it had spoken to more than a dozen residents of the area around Putin’s residence and none had heard anything that could indicate 91 drones had approached or been shot down by air defences.
“If something like that had happened, the whole city would have been talking about it,” one person told the outlet.
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry said what Russia presented as evidence was “laughable”. “They are not serious even about fabricating the story,” Heorhii Tykhyi told Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also strenuously denied the allegations, tying them to the ongoing US-led process to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Putin has not publicly mentioned the alleged drone strike, but addressing Russia’s troops in Ukraine during his New Year’s Eve speech, he said “we believe in you and our victory”.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump’s advisers held talks with Zelensky and national security advisers from the UK, France and Germany about ending the war in Ukraine.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff said they discussed “strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart”.
In Zelensky’s New Year’s Eve address, he said “the peace agreement is 90% ready, 10% remains”.
“Those are the 10% that will determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe,” he said.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said European states and allies who are due to meet in Paris on 6 January “will make concrete commitments to protect Ukraine and ensure a just and lasting peace on our European continent”.
In recent weeks the American and Ukrainian delegations have been working closely, and Zelensky has expressed cautious optimism that his country’s demands were going to be taken into account.
In his view, he said on Tuesday, the claims about the drone attack on Putin’s Valdai residence were about “the fact that over the past month there were quite successful talks and a positive meeting between our teams, culminating in our meeting with President Trump.”
Russia wanted to disrupt the “positive momentum” between the US and Ukraine, Zelensky said.
When the claims emerged Zelensky also warned that the alleged drone strike would be used as an excuse to carry out strikes on Kyiv and Ukrainian government buildings. Overnight on Wednesday air alerts briefly rang out in the capital as a drone approached, but no hits or damage were reported.
