Moscow, 2 January 2026 (dpa/MIA) - Russia's Defence Ministry on Thursday said it decoded navigation data from a Ukrainian drone that it claims shows a planned attack on a residence of President Vladimir Putin, and that it has handed the material to US representatives.

The ministry said the decrypted routing data, presented in a folder along with a drone component, were given to officials from the US military attaché's office, located at the embassy in Moscow.

The ministry released a video showing the head of Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, Igor Kostyukov, handing over the evidence.

Ukraine denies launching an attack and accuses Moscow of using the false claim to justify strikes on government buildings in Kiev.

In the video, Kostyukov - who rarely appears in public - said Russian intelligence specialists had decrypted the data, which he claimed proved the drone was intended to carry out a "terrorist attack" on Putin's residence in Russia's Novgorod region on December 29, 2025.

Russia hoped the disclosure would contribute to establishing the truth, he said.

Moscow did not identify the US officials seen in the video or specify their positions.

Russia has claimed Ukraine attempted to attack Putin's Valdai residence with 91 drones, all of which it said were shot down.

After days of Ukrainian demands for evidence, the Russian Defence Ministry released several videos on Wednesday, showing what it said was a drone lying in a snow-covered forest, maps with flight routes and timestamps, and purported eyewitnesses.

CIA assessment

Putin also briefed US President Donald Trump on the alleged drone incident earlier this week, the Kremlin has said, adding that while Moscow did not intend to withdraw from peace talks encouraged by Trump, it would take a tougher stance.

Kiev and Moscow have accused each other of using the incident to disrupt peace negotiations.

While it is undisputed that Ukraine regularly strikes Russian targets as part of its defence against Russia's invasion, there are doubts over Moscow's claim that Putin's residence was the intended target.

The handover of material to the United States also appeared to respond to US media reports this week citing the CIA as having concluded that the Ukrainian drones were not aimed at Putin's residence - an assessment that was reportedly shared with Trump.

The US president had criticized the alleged plot against Putin, drawing praise from the Kremlin, while Russian commentators accused CIA leadership of being pro-Ukrainian.

Ukraine has been fighting for nearly four years, with Western backing, against a full-scale invasion ordered by Putin.

Photo: epa