Sources at the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info noted that the "attack" on Putin's residence was repelled immediately after talk of the possible resignation of Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov over a false report to the Russian president about the "capture of Kupyansk." In the end, the "attack" turned out to be even worse than the "capture," with 23 fictitious drones and silent air defenses.
Now, the "Edinya Rossiya" website (see screenshots) is hastily deleting a news story featuring Putin's words about the capture of Kupyansk. On November 28, 2025, Gerasimov and General Sergei Kuzovlev publicly reported to Putin that Kupyansk was "completely in our hands." The Russian president himself has since repeated this information publicly on numerous occasions. Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky responded that Ukrainian forces continue to hold the line, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the outskirts of Kupyansk and even filmed a video.
Rumor has it that Putin was extremely angry about this, leading to speculation that the "unsinkable" Gerasimov could be leaving his post as early as 2026. And then, as luck would have it, the air defense forces "repel an attack" on the Valdai residence, and the Chief of the General Staff transforms from the general who set him up into the "savior."
However, the story ultimately turned out even worse than with Kupyansk.
The Ministry of Defense stated that 41 UAVs were shot down directly over the Novgorod region. However, monitoring channels this morning reported the figure of 18 UAVs destroyed in the Novgorod region. Eighteen UAVs is roughly the standard figure for attacks on this region. For example, on September 12, 2025, 14 drones were destroyed over the Novgorod Region, and on December 11, 19 UAVs. The targets were typically PJSC Acron, weapons depots, and other military installations.
Novgorod Region Governor Alexander Dronov initially reported 18 drones. However, an hour and a half later, he (governors receive information first from regional headquarters, and then, with clarification, from the Russian Ministry of Defense) added the same 23 drones "from the Ministry of Defense."
Looking at the Ministry of Defense's map of the "attack on the residence," you can see that exactly 18 UAVs, mentioned by monitoring channels and initially by the governor, were destroyed almost immediately at the regional border. The remaining 23, however, are listed as approaching or immediately near the residence on Valdayev Street. However, as VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info have already reported, the station and depot employees servicing the closed line and Putin's "armored train" received orders to prepare for evacuation that night, but then immediately received the order to stand down. They did not hear any explosions, gunshots, or drone flights. But this is simply impossible if the drones were shot down in close proximity to the residence, as shown on the Ministry of Defense map. Our project then hypothesized that the drones were actually destroyed at the entrance to the region, and then they decided to pass it off as an attack on the residence. All subsequent events confirm this.
Putin immediately informed Trump of the attack on the residence. However, the US questioned whether the residence was the actual target of the attack. As a result, following the unpleasant incident with Kupyansk, the Kremlin had to go through the equally unpleasant process of proving to Trump that the attack was indeed on the residence.
No one has ever seen the video of the wreckage of the 23 drones "shot down" in the immediate vicinity of the residence. However, one drone was shown, from which "navigation controller memory" was allegedly extracted, which, according to the Ministry of Defense, "definitely confirmed that the attack target was the presidential residence complex."
In reality, this means something different. The Americans themselves did not record any mass downing of UAVs near the residence. The drone shown was destroyed somewhere far from the residence, but the memory card must confirm that it was heading specifically for the building complex. This evidence is extremely dubious.
All this looks more like another "capture of Kupyansk" by Gerasimov, so we will watch its fate with interest.
