Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy accuses India of applying double standards following Delhi’s reaction to a reported strike on Putin’s home
Frankly, it is both puzzling and disappointing that countries such as India, the UAE, and others criticized what they called drone attacks on Putin’s residence—something that never actually took place.
New Delhi: After India said it was “deeply concerned” about reports of an alleged attack targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused New Delhi and the United Arab Emirates of applying double standards, contrasting their response with their silence on the killing of Ukrainian children by Russian forces.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on December 29, stated that ongoing diplomatic efforts are the best way to end hostilities and urged all parties to refrain from taking steps that could undermine peace efforts.
Modi said, “I am deeply concerned by reports of an attack on the residence of the President of the Russian Federation. The ongoing diplomatic efforts offer the best path to de-escalate hostilities and restore peace.”
Speaking to reporters today, Zelenskyy spoke frankly about the reactions from New Delhi and Abu Dhabi.
According to the Ukrainian news agency Interfax-Ukraine, Zelenskyy said, “To be honest, it is confusing and unpleasant that some countries, such as India, the UAE, and some others – excuse me – condemned our alleged drone attacks on Putin’s residence, which never happened.” “But where is the condemnation of the fact that for so long they [Russia] have been attacking our children and killing people? To be honest, I haven’t heard anything like that from either India or the UAE.”
Earlier, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said that Kyiv was “disappointed and concerned” by the reactions from India, the UAE, and Pakistan and reiterated that the Russian accusation was baseless.
He said Moscow had not provided any concrete evidence for its claims and accused it of trying to derail diplomatic momentum.
“Almost a day has passed, and Russia still hasn’t provided any concrete evidence for its accusations of a supposed Ukrainian attack on Putin’s residence,” Sybiha said in a post on X. “And they won’t, because no such attack ever happened.”
Incidentally, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates used the word “condemn” in their responses to the alleged attack, while India refrained from using the term, instead saying it was “deeply concerned.”
Russia made the accusation on Monday, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claiming that Ukraine had attempted to attack the presidential residence in the Novgorod region using long-range drones on December 28-29. He said the alleged incident would change Moscow’s negotiating position and warned of retaliatory action.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later said Russia would not provide evidence for the alleged attack, stating that evidence was unnecessary if a “large-scale drone attack” had occurred, and added that Moscow would harden its stance in peace talks.
Ukraine has dismissed the accusation as fabricated. President Zelenskyy said the claim was made to undermine the diplomatic progress achieved after his recent meeting with US President Donald Trump, where Kyiv presented a revised peace plan.
The Kremlin’s accusation came shortly after that meeting, and Moscow has said that Putin later told Trump that Russia would review its position on peace talks following the alleged incident.
India, a long-standing partner of Russia, has called for a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine, but its stance is widely seen as more aligned with Moscow. New Delhi has never criticized Russia for invading Ukraine and has consistently abstained from UN resolutions condemning Moscow.
This is not the first time Zelenskyy has addressed India’s position in such strong terms. In July 2024, he criticized New Delhi when Prime Minister Modi visited Russia and embraced Putin on the same day that Russian missiles struck a children’s hospital in Kyiv. A day later, Modi did not directly mention the hospital strike but said that his “heart breaks” when “innocent children” are killed in the fighting.
