CIA: Ukraine Did Not Direct Drones to Putin's Home

US intelligence has found there's no truth to Russia's Monday claim that Ukraine tried—and failed—to hit Vladimir Putin's residence in northern Russia with a swarm of drones, according to US officials cited by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. The Journal's source says the US determined that Ukraine was going after a military target in the same Novgorod region where Putin's country residence is located, though the target isn't near it.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe briefed President Trump on the finding, per a person familiar with the matter. The Times notes Trump hasn't publicly embraced the assessment, but on Wednesday he shared a New York Post editorial that questioned Putin's account. Trump had previously said he was "very angry" after Putin told him about the alleged attack in a phone call, though he also allowed Monday that he had no independent confirmation and that it was "possible" the episode never happened.

Russia had seized on the claim to warn it might toughen its posture in already difficult peace talks. On Wednesday, its Defense Ministry alleged that 91 Ukrainian drones bound for Putin's home had been intercepted; it shared a video showing what it claimed was an explosives-laden Ukrainian drone that had been taken down.