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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

Arpan Rai,Alexander Butler,Tom Watling ,Alex Croft
Tuesday 17 December 2024 16:02 GMT
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Defense expert warns of major Russian retaliation after general’s death in Moscow

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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.

Russia is not willing to freeze the war, says Moscow’s UN representative

Russia is not willing to freeze the war in Ukraine despite promises from US president-elect Donald Trump to end the fighting, Moscow’s ambassador to the United Nations has claimed.

“No schemes involving a freeze of the conflict will suit Russia,” said Vasily Nebenzya during a UN security council meeting on Monday.

Tom Watling17 December 2024 16:02

Behind enemy lines: Ukraine’s deadly assassins have terrorised Russia with nuclear general their latest victim

Behind enemy lines: Ukraine’s deadly assassins have terrorised Russia

Ukraine’s security service spy chief says they have killed ‘very many’ Russian conspirators

Tom Watling17 December 2024 15:28

The frontline in Ukraine in maps

Tom Watling17 December 2024 15:00

Watch: Sir Keir Starmer urges Western allies to 'double-down' in support of Ukraine

Sir Keir Starmer urges Western allies to 'double-down' in support of Ukraine
Alex Croft17 December 2024 14:38

Russia passes law against ‘foreign agents'

Russia has approved legislation which tightens restrictions on income received by people in Moscow designated as “foreign agents”.

Under Russian law, any person or organisation receiving support from outside Russia must register as a “foreign agent”, allowing Moscow to discredit foreign actors.

The new bill, which requires “foreign agents” to transfer all income from the sale or rental of property and vehicles to special rouble accounts, has passed its third and final reading in the Russian Duma.

They will also be required to transfer any earnings from intellectual activity, including works of science, literature and art, performances and broadcasting, to those accounts, Reuters news agency reported.

Individuals will only regain access to the funds once they are removed from the Justice Ministry’s foreign agents register.

A total of 895 individuals are listed as foreign agents.

Alex Croft17 December 2024 14:23

Legislation to allow multiple citizenship passes first reading in Kyiv

The Ukrainian parliament has supported legislation allowing multiple citizenship, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said according to The Kyiv Independent.

Current legislation only allows Ukrainians to hold single citizenship. President Volodymyr Zelensky submitted the new bill in August, stressing its importance as part of his internal resilience plan in November.

The bill has passed its first reading with 247 lawmakers in favour. It still must pass a second reading and be signed by the president before it becomes law.

It is seen as part of Ukraine’s effort to strengthen ties with Ukrainians living abroad, with Mr Zelensky saying it will allow ethnic Ukrainians born abroad to obtain citizenship.

Alex Croft17 December 2024 14:08

Report: Nuclear bunker sales increase, despite expert warnings they aren’t going to provide protection

When Bernard Jones Jr. and his wife, Doris, built their dream home, they didn’t hold back. A grotto swimming pool with a waterfall for hot summer days. A home theater for cozy winter nights. A fruit orchard to harvest in fall. And a vast underground bunker in case disaster strikes.

“The world’s not becoming a safer place,” he said. “We wanted to be prepared.”

Under a nondescript metal hatch near the private basketball court, there’s a hidden staircase that leads down into rooms with beds for about 25 people, bathrooms and two kitchens, all backed by a self-sufficient energy source.

With water, electricity, clean air and food, they felt ready for any disaster, even a nuclear blast, at their bucolic home in California’s Inland Empire.

Read the full piece:

Nuclear bunker sales increase, despite expert warnings they aren’t going to provide protection

Global security leaders are warning nuclear threats are growing as weapons spending surged to $91.4 billion last year

Alex Croft17 December 2024 13:53

Watch: Russian police spokesman shares more details on General Igor Kirillov's death

Russian police spokesman shares more details on General Igor Kirillov's death
Alex Croft17 December 2024 13:38

Russian spies caught in locations with F-16 jets, Ukraine says

Ukraine’s security service says it has uncovered 12 agents spying for Russia on locations which host F-16 fighter jets and air defence systems across Ukraine.

The SBU security service said on the Telegram messenger app that it had detained the “biggest network of agents” in Ukraine’s north and south.

Alex Croft17 December 2024 13:22

Report: Grassroots funding for Ukraine’s military declines as groups looks for creative ways to raise money

The concert took place in an old movie studio in Kyiv, the location kept secret until the final moment in case it was the target of a Russian attack.

More than 1,000 soldiers and young people gathered to listen to the artists who joined forces with a military brigade in an innovative effort to raise funds for Ukraine’s embattled troops.

This was the first and only live performance of the charity album “Epoch,” a collaboration between the 3rd Assault Brigade and eight Ukrainian bands.

The project’s ambitious target is to raise 50 million hryvnias (about $1.2 million) to buy an M113 armored personnel carrier to help get infantry to the front and evacuate the wounded for medical treatment. Since it launched on streaming platforms a month ago, the initiative has raised 9 million hryvnias (around $214,000).

Read the full report:

Grassroots funding for Ukraine's military declines as groups looks for creative ways to raise money

Advertisements pasted along the sidewalk in Kyiv ask for donations to help fill financial gaps across Ukraine's military

Alex Croft17 December 2024 13:07

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