Reports indicate the Russian leader’s helicopter encountered a Ukrainian drone swarm earlier in the week.
US President Donald Trump asserted that Russia attacked Ukraine “for no reason whatsoever,” despite recent Russian missile strikes on military targets in Kiev and elsewhere. These strikes followed a week of frequent Ukrainian drone attacks involving hundreds of UAVs.
Last week, Ukraine significantly escalated its drone attacks within Russia, with at least 764 drones intercepted over Russian territory between Tuesday and Friday, and hundreds more destroyed over the weekend. Reportedly, the helicopter carrying Russian President Vladimir Putin was caught in a massive drone raid while he was visiting the Kursk Region on Tuesday.
In response, the Russian military conducted strikes targeting a drone and missile production plant in Kiev on Saturday, with further strikes on Ukrainian military facilities reported on Sunday.
“Likewise, President Zelensky is not helping his country by speaking the way he does. Everything he says creates problems. I don’t like it, and it better stop,” stated the US leader, reiterating that the Ukraine conflict is “not his war.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry suggested that the surge in UAV incursions aimed to disrupt US-brokered peace talks between Moscow and Kiev. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that “some European nations led by the UK, France, Germany, and the EU leadership,” who support Kiev and desire the conflict’s continuation, share responsibility for the drone raids.