Did Russia release fake video of Ukraine drone strike on Putin's home?

To the naked eye, it looked real as a video purportedly showing a drone attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin's Moscow residence went viral on Wednesday. However, it has now been flagged by fact-checkers as AI-generated, with experts suggesting that it might be part of Russian propaganda to push its claim that a Ukrainian drone had attempted to strike Putin's residence.

X users flagged multiple inconsistencies in the video, including the absence of tyre tracks on a vehicle moving through fresh snow and unusually poor audio quality. X's community notes labelled the clip as likely AI-generated.

"This video is AI-generated. Notice that the vehicle leaves no tyre tracks in fresh snow that it has just driven through. The poor audio quality, 15-second length, and small explosions with no damage are also characteristic of AI-generated videos," X's community notes posted.

The alleged attack on Putin’s residence ahead of the New Year drew concern from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who urged all parties to focus on ongoing efforts to secure peace in the region.

"Deeply concerned by reports of the targeting of the residence of the President of the Russian Federation. Ongoing diplomatic efforts offer the most viable path toward ending hostilities and achieving peace. We urge all concerned to remain focused on these efforts and to avoid any actions that could undermine them," PM Modi posted on social media.

Meanwhile, Ukraine downplayed the concerns raised by PM Modi and other countries, calling Russia’s claims unsubstantiated.

Dismissing claims that any such attack took place, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha took to X and wrote, “Almost a day passed, and Russia still hasn't provided any plausible evidence to its accusations of Ukraine’s alleged ‘attack on Putin’s residence.’ And they won’t. Because there’s none. No such attack happened."

"We were disappointed and concerned to see the statements by Emirati, Indian, and Pakistani sides expressing their concerns regarding the attack that never happened," he added.

Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday blamed Ukraine for targeting Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region, located between Moscow and St. Petersburg, with as many as 91 drones, adding that they were intercepted by the air defence system.

Following his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Florida, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the development a concerted effort by Russia to derail peace talks and “justify additional attacks against Ukraine.”

Siding with Ukraine, France said it had found no concrete evidence to back “the serious accusations made by the Russian authorities.”