Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv claims assassination of Putin’s nuclear general in Moscow scooter bomb attack
Igor Kirillov was charged by Kyiv yesterday over alleged use of banned chemical weapons in war
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Your support makes all the difference.Ukrainian security services have killed a senior Russian general in charge of nuclear protection forces in Moscow today, intelligence sources in Kyiv have claimed.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed outside an apartment building on Ryazansky Prospekt after a bomb hidden in an electric scooter detonated.
In a statement to the Financial Times, an intelligence source described Kirillov as a “completely legitimate target”.
He was sanctioned by Britain in October for his battlefield involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection forces of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and his assistant were killed,” the investigative committee said.
Photographs posted on Russian Telegram channels showed a shattered entrance to a building littered with rubble and two bodies lying in the blood-stained snow.
His death comes a day after Ukrainian prosecutors charged him with the alleged use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine war.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said the Ukrainian leadership faces imminent revenge for the “cowardly and despicable strikes”, the RIA state news agency reported.
Who was Igor Kirillov, senior Russian general killed by bombing in Moscow?
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The silent war going on inside a city at Nato’s eastern border – which could be Putin’s next target
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where Putin’s forces are making gains in eastern Ukraine
Ukraine is battling against a “prevailing” Russia in the eastern Donetsk region, Kyiv’s military chief has admitted, as Vladimir Putin’s forces look to secure as much territory as possible before US president-elect Donald Trumpre-enters the White House.
Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi described the fighting as “extremely tough” as he was pictured visiting the Pokrovsk area in Donetsk on Wednesday, where Russian forces have advanced to within just a few miles of the city’s outskirts.
The area is a linchpin of the wider region’s defence and war trackers have expressed concern that should it fall, it could pave the way for Russia to seize swathes of more territory.
“Battles continue in the Pokrovsk direction with the enemy prevailing, first of all, in manpower,” General Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram messenger app.
Tom Watling reports:
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where Putin’s forces are making gains in eastern Ukraine
Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi says the fight to hold the eastern region of Dontesk has become ‘extremely tough’
Report: The silent war going on inside a city at Nato’s eastern border – which could be Putin’s next target
Home to one of the few crossing points into Russia, the city of Narva is seen by Estonian border force officials as “the end and the beginning of the free world”.
Located on Nato’s eastern border, the city has become the constant target of hybrid warfare tactics employed by Russia – with the Kremlin sending in surveillance blimps on an almost weekly basis and removing Estonian border infrastructure in the dead of night.
“Everything that is on the other side of the border, I wouldn’t use [the term] ‘free world’ to describe that,” says Egert Belitsev, director general of the Estonian border force.
But not everyone in Narva sees it as Belitsev does.
Political corresondent Millie Cooke reports:
The silent war in a city at Nato’s border – which could be Putin’s next target
Narva, which is home to more than 50,000 Russian speakers, has become the target of constant provocation from Russia
Ukrainian star footballer suspended amid doping allegations
Premier League and Ukrainian national team star Mykhailo Mudryk has been suspended after receiving a positive doping test.
The 23-year-old professed his innocence and said he is in “shock” at the findings, adding that he hopes to be “back on the pitch soon”.
Reports in Ukraine name the substance in question, though this has not been verified by either the FA or Mudryk’s club. It is not available in the UK but appears on Wada’s list of banned substances.
Mudryk is the most expensive Ukrainian footballer ever and the most expensive player ever signed from the Ukrainian Premier League, after Chelsea paid an initial £62 million for his services.
He has been capped for the Ukrainian national team 28 times.
Read the full report:
Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk returns ‘adverse finding’ in drugs test
Results from a B sample are still pending and Mudryk has missed the Blues’ past few fixtures
Ukraine downs 20 Russian drones, air force says
The Ukrainian air force downed 20 Russia-launched drones, it said on Tuesday.
Russia launched a total of 31 drones and 10 did not reach their targets, with one still in the air, the air force announced on the Telegram messenger.
UK sanctions 20 ‘shadow fleet’ ships
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced a new round of sanctions on Russia.
Fresh sanctions have been put in place on 20 Russian shadow fleet vessels carrying Russian oil - a collection of ships working illegally to evade sanctions and regulations. The UK government has also sanctioned energy companies 2Rivers DMCC and 2Rivers PTE LTD.
Sir Keir met with representatives of Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland, and Estonia on Tuesday have agreed a new partnership to challenge suspected shadow vessels
It comes as Russian forces continue to attack Ukraine’s vital national infrastructure as looks to create bitter winter conditions for Kyiv’s defense.
Sir Keir also announced an added £35 million of emergency support for Ukraine.
"As (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's oil revenues continue to fuel the fires of his illegal war, Ukrainian families are enduring cold, dark nights, often without heating, light or electricity, targeted by Russia's relentless missile attacks," Sir Keir said.
"These sanctions will add further pressure to Putin's stalling war economy."
Russian prosecutors demand six years in prison for Navalny’s lawyers
Russian prosecutors have demanded prison sentences of nearly six years each for three lawyers who represented late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, one of his allies said on Tuesday.
Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser have been accused of taking part in an extremist organisation by Russia, after their arrest in October 2023. The trio have been added to an official list of “terrorists and extremists”.
Mr Navalny, one of Russia’s most prominent opposition figures, was convicted of extremism and other charges, before he died suddenly in an Arctic penal colony in February. Prosecutors accuse his lawyers of passing information to and from Mr Navalny while he was imprisoned.
Ivan Zhdanov, Mr Navalny’s ally, said on the Telegram messaging app that prosecutors were seeking penal colony sentences of 5 years and 11 months for Kobsez, 5 years and 10 months for Liptser and five years and six months for Sergunin, Reuters news agency reported.
Russian forces seize village in eastern Ukraine, Russian Defence Ministry says
Russian forces claim to have taken control of the settlement of Hannivka in eastern Ukraine, according to Russia’s state RIA news agency.
The reports, which came from Russia’s Defence Ministry on Tuesday, have not been independently verified.
Defence expert warns of major Russian retaliation after general’s death in Moscow
A defence expert has warned of major Russian retaliation after a senior Russian general in charge of nuclear protection forces died in Moscow on Tuesday (17 December).
Igor Kirillov was killed outside an apartment building on Ryazansky Prospekt.
His assistant was also killed, a Russian investigative committee said.
Watch: Starmer meets world leaders in Estonia as he visits troops serving on Russian border
Watch as Sir Keir Starmer met leaders of Baltic states in Estonia for the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) conference on Tuesday, 17 December, before visiting British troops serving on Russia‘s border.
The Prime Minister will join leaders from the Nordics and Baltics to discuss support for Ukraine, the sustained threat posed by Russia, and wider European security.
Sir Keir will then visit British forces serving in the region to deter malign Russian threats.
When asked what else could be done to support Ukraine, Sir Keir said: “There is an ever-increasing demand for more capability. That is understandable, and Ukraine needs all the capability that it can get, so I think all of us have put in more capability into Ukraine by way of equipment.
Watch: Starmer in Estonia as he visits troops serving on Russian border
Watch as Sir Keir Starmer met leaders of Baltic states in Estonia for the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) conference on Tuesday, 17 December, before visiting British troops serving on Russia's border.
Kyiv condemns visit of Pan-African delegation to Russian-occupied areas
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the visit of a Pan-African delegation to the Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine.
Representatives for a dozen African countries in the Pan-African Parliament visited Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region to “find out the truth of the Russian people”.
The parliament is the legislative body of the African Union, which represents 55 counties in the African continent.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "Their statements during this visit about opposing colonialism, made on Ukrainian land illegally seized by Russia in the course of its neocolonial war of aggression against Ukraine, are completely absurd.
"Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry strongly protests the visit of the delegation of the Pan-African Parliament."
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