New Delhi: After India said it was “deeply concerned” by reports that the residence of Russian president Vladimir Putin had been targeted, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused New Delhi and the United Arab Emirates of double standards, contrasting their response with silence over the killing of Ukrainian children by Russian forces.Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X on December 29 that ongoing diplomatic efforts offered the most viable path to ending hostilities and urged all parties to avoid steps that could undermine peace initiatives.“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 today, Zelenskyy did not mince words regarding the reactions from New Delhi and Abu Dhabi.“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 said, as quoted by Ukrainian news agency Interfax-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.”Earlier, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv was “disappointed and concerned” by the reactions from India, the UAE and Pakistan, reiterating that Russia’s allegation was unfounded.He said Moscow had provided no plausible evidence for its claim and accused it of attempting to derail diplomatic momentum.“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,” Sybiha said in a post on X.Incidentally, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates used the word “condemn” in their responses to the alleged attack, while India avoided that formulation, saying instead that it was “deeply concerned”.Russia made the allegation on Monday, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claiming Ukraine had attempted to strike a presidential residence in the Novgorod region using long range drones on December 28–29. He said the alleged incident would alter Moscow’s negotiating position and warned of retaliation.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later said Russia would not provide evidence for the alleged attack, arguing that proof was unnecessary if a “massive drone attack” had occurred, and said Moscow would harden its stance in peace negotiations.Ukraine has dismissed the accusation as a fabrication. President Zelenskyy said the claim was intended to undermine diplomatic progress following his recent meeting with US president Donald Trump, where Kyiv presented a revised peace plan.The Kremlin allegation surfaced shortly after that meeting, and Moscow has said Putin later told Trump that Russia would review its position on peace talks following the alleged incident.India, which is a long-standing partner with Russia, has called for a peaceful solution to the Ukraine war, but its position is perceived to be more aligned with Moscow. New Delhi has never criticised Russia for invading Ukraine and it has always abstained on resolutions criticising Moscow in UN bodies.This is not the first time that Zelenskyy has referred to India’s position in such strong terms. In July 2024, he criticised New Delhi after 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 refer to the hospital strike, but said that when “innocent children” are killed in conflict, the “heart simply explodes”.