Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused India and the United Arab Emirates of applying double standards after New Delhi expressed concern over reports claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence had been targeted. Zelenskyy contrasted these reactions with what he described as the absence of condemnation over the killing of Ukrainian civilians, including children, by Russian forces.
India’s response came after reports emerged alleging an attempted attack on Putin’s residence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X on December 29, said India was “deeply concerned” by the reports and emphasised the importance of diplomacy in resolving the conflict. He urged all parties to avoid actions that could weaken ongoing peace efforts.
“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,” Modi said.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Zelenskyy reacted sharply to the statements from India and other countries. He said it was “confusing and unpleasant” that nations such as India, the UAE, and a few others had commented on what he described as an incident that never occurred.
“Honestly, it is confusing and unpleasant that some countries, like India, the UAE, and a few others, condemned — excuse me — our supposed drone strikes on Putin’s residence, which never happened,” Zelenskyy was quoted as saying by Ukrainian news agency Interfax-Ukraine. He went on to question why these countries had not spoken out against Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
“But where is their condemnation, by the way, of the fact that all this time they [Russia] have been attacking our children and killing people? I do not hear it from India, honestly, nor from the UAE,” he added.
Earlier, Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha also expressed dissatisfaction with the responses from India, the UAE and Pakistan. He reiterated that Russia’s allegation regarding an attack on Putin’s residence was baseless and unsupported by evidence.
Sybiha said Moscow had failed to provide any credible proof for its claims and accused Russia of attempting to disrupt diplomatic progress. “Almost a day has 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 was no such attack,” he wrote in a post on X.
While Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates used the word “condemn” in their responses to the alleged incident, India avoided that language, stating instead that it was “deeply concerned.”
Russia first made the allegation on Monday. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that Ukraine had attempted to strike a presidential residence in the Novgorod region using long-range drones between December 28 and 29. Lavrov said the alleged attempt would affect Moscow’s negotiating position and warned of possible retaliation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later said Russia would not present evidence for the claim, arguing that proof was unnecessary if a “massive drone attack” had taken place. He also indicated that Moscow would adopt a tougher stance in peace negotiations.
Ukraine has rejected the accusation outright, calling it fabricated. Zelenskyy said the claim was aimed at undermining diplomatic momentum following his recent meeting with US President Donald Trump, during which Ukraine shared a revised peace proposal.
According to Moscow, Putin later told Trump that Russia would reassess its approach to peace talks in light of the alleged incident.
India, a long-standing partner of Russia, has consistently called for a peaceful resolution to the war but is widely seen as leaning closer to Moscow’s position. New Delhi has not criticised Russia for invading Ukraine and has repeatedly abstained from United Nations resolutions condemning Moscow.
This is not the first time Zelenskyy has criticised India’s stance in strong terms. In July 2024, he spoke out after Modi visited Russia and publicly embraced Putin on the same day Russian missiles struck a children’s hospital in Kyiv. The following day, Modi did not directly mention the hospital attack but said that when “innocent children” are killed in conflict, the “heart simply explodes.”
