The Attack on Putin’s Residence Raises Major Questions about Proposed US Security Guarantees

Stephen Bryen | Weapons & Strategy | Dec 31, 2025

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Vladimir Putin’s residence in Novgorod, known as Dolgiye Borody, also known as Valdai and Uzhin, was attacked by waves of drones on December 29th. We know this from an official statement from Sergey Lavrov, and from President Trump who was informed by Putin himself in a telephone call. The Russian Defense Ministry subsequently also released a report after a Duma deputy provided preliminary details of the attack.

The attack raises major questions about proposed US security guarantees for Ukraine as part of some sort of deal on settling the Ukraine war.

The Ukrainians said the attack never happened and much of the western press reflected Ukraine’s position. Now hard evidence is emerging that the Russian claims have merit.

According to official Russian statements and details circulated by state-aligned channels (similar to the reporting of Duma Deputy Alexander Khinshtein), the drones were reportedly intercepted at the following locations in the Novgorod Region: the Lake Valdai area around Dolgiye Borody; Yashcherovo, the intercept point west of the residence; Roschino, a forested area near the village where debris has been found; and Valday town where debris is said to have fallen.

The main attack drone used by Ukraine was the UJ-26 Beaver (Bober). This loitering munition has a distinctive canard layout with sleek fuselage and inverted tail. The type was introduced in 2023 and has reportedly entered mass production. Range is in the order of 1,000 km (620 miles) and payload is reported as 20 kg (44 lbs). This type was previously used to attack Moscow and other targets in Russia.

The Russians also claim to have found a crashed modified Chaklun long range strike drone. This drone is manufactured in Ukraine and is powered by a DLE111 Chinese-made engine. One of these drones in January, 2025 struck a Smolensk aviation plant that was remodeling older Su-25 aircraft.

The Russians have released a map showing the flight paths of the Ukrainian UAVs and information on the attack.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense report, Russian air defenses shot down 49 drones above the Bryansk Region, one above Smolensk Region and another 41 above the Novgorod Region as they approached Putin’s residence.

The Dolgiye Borody residence is surrounded by air defenses, some of them mounted on towers above the surrounding forest trees. There are at least 12 improved versions of the Pantsir S1 in the area, which have been optimized for anti-drone warfare. Nearby there also is an S-400 air defense installation. In addition the region is blanketed by heavy electronic warfare units, among them jammers and spoofers including the Krasukha-4 and Pole-21E, an electronic RF jammer. These systems are designed to jam GPS signals and disrupt the communication links between drones and their operators. Quite possibly the Ukrainian drones were equipped with Starlink mini terminals or were using a mother drone with Starlink linked to the attack drones. The Russians also are using mini Starlink for some drones, bought on the black market. Starlink is very difficult to jam or spoof.

The Putin residence is a very secure facility. Putin accesses it by a secret rail link from Moscow and a helicopter connection at the end. The train is specially armored and the train cars undercarriage are reinforced with extra road wheels to carry the added weight.

There are other highly secure residences, including Novo-Ogaryovo (Moscow), Bocharov Ruchey (Sochi) and Dvorets Putina, an Italianate palace complex located on the Black Sea coast near Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.

It isn’t known if Putin was at the Dolgiye Borody residence at the time of the attack. Some say he was in Moscow and stayed away from Dolgiye Borody because of the threat of drone or missile attacks from the sea.

On May 3, 2023, two Ukrainian drones exploded over the Senate Palace within the Kremlin complex in Moscow. The Senate Palace is the working residence for Putin. The attack marked the first time that the Kremlin was targeted since World War 2.

Some think that with Zelensky arriving in Mar-a-Lago he would not have authorized an attack on Putin’s residence, especially since he was seeking to obtain American security guarantees for Ukraine. For example, Larry Johnson argues this was an unauthorized Ukrainian intelligence operation, possibly linked to British intelligence, to derail Zelensky leading to his ouster as President. It is fairly well known that the British, especially MI-6, Britain’s overseas secret intelligence service, is backing Valeri Zaluzhny to replace Zelensky.

In the Trump-Zelensky meeting both sides, according to Zelensky, discussed US security guarantees for Ukraine. Allegedly, Trump offered a 15 year guarantee which Zelensky says would include US troops in Ukraine. Zelensky told reporters “we are discussing this with President Trump and with representatives of the ‘coalition of the willing.’ We would like this.”

It is obvious that the attack on Putin’s residence was a provocation, whether it took place with Zelensky’s knowledge or not. It raises a profound question of why the US would agree to give any security guarantee to Ukraine, and challenges the wisdom of stationing American soldiers in Ukraine. If, as Zelensky implies, such guarantees are linked to a “coalition of the willing” which no doubt includes Germany, France and the UK, we get a “streamlined NATO” where there is no veto power, as troublemakers like Hungary are excluded.

One consequence: an offer of a security guarantee to Ukraine is worse than putting Ukraine in NATO.