#UKRAINERUSSIAWAR. SBU kills Kirillov in Moscow. Medvedev: we will take revenge. Ukrainian front collapses: Russians increasingly close to Pokrovs’k

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Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said that the Swiss government is actively working with the European Union, the United States, Russia and the G7 countries to organize and host the second summit on Ukraine.

A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters: “Ukrainian security services are responsible for the murder of Russian General Igor Kirillov this morning in Moscow”. Some Ukrainian sources had written that the murder could be linked to internal Russian issues. Among them Mikhail Podolyak. But he later gave himself away at a press conference with his own words. The murder of Igor Kirillov and his assistant was the result of an operation conducted by Ukrainian special services. The explosive device that exploded on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow had a power of about one kilogram of TNT, emergency services told RIA Novosti. Other sources said the IED was most likely installed under a military service vehicle.

The investigators’ initial reconstructions speak of an explosive device placed in a scooter near the entrance to the Presidential Palace. The video shows a flash near the entrance: the explosion occurred around six in the morning. The explosive was placed in the handle of an electric scooter parked in front of the door and the explosion damaged several apartments.

The day before, the SBU had declared Igor Kirillov a suspect in “war crimes” involving chemical weapons. Western media reacted with restraint, without directly blaming anyone, the Ukrainians later changed their version accusing the Russian Federation.

The head of the Russian Armed Forces’ Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection (RCBZ) troops, Igor Kirillov, was killed in an explosion on Ryazansky Prospect in Moscow. He is the fourth chemical and biological weapons expert to be killed in less than ten days. The other three were killed in Syria.

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Medvedev called the terrorist attack in Moscow “the agony of the Bandera regime.” “Attempts to intimidate the Russian people, to stop the advance of the Russian army and to spread fear are in vain,” Medvedev said, speaking of the murder of General Kirillov. “Everything must be done to destroy those who ordered the murder of General Kirillov, this is the military-political leadership of Ukraine,” Medvedev said.

Regarding the situation at the front, the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, said that active combat operations are being conducted on a sector of the front with a total length of over 1,170 km. “The Russian Armed Forces have significantly increased the intensity of offensive operations in three directions: “The most difficult situation is now in the Pokrovs’k and Kurakhove directions, the enemy has also significantly increased the intensity of offensive actions in the Kramators’k, Torets’k, Vremivka directions, where he is trying to break through the defenses of our troops, but he is not succeeding,” Syrsky said.

Andriy Yermak reiterated that: “Peace negotiations will begin when Russia runs out of resources for the war, so there is incredibly much work to be done.”

According to The Economist: “Ukraine has lost nearly 50% of its previously occupied territory in the Kursk region.” According to Bloomberg: “Europe must urgently deliver on its promises to prevent Russia from seizing Pokrovs’k. The Donetsk region’s most important rail and road hub and coking coal mining center are at risk of being captured by Russian troops, which are already 5 km from the city. The publication notes that aid promised by Europe and the United States is arriving extremely slowly, while “exhausted Ukrainian soldiers” urgently need supplies of weapons and ammunition. “Ukraine is desperately in need and fighting for an end to the war, but for that to happen, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must have a strong position at the negotiating table. Russia has no incentive to compromise now because it is winning,” Bloomberg notes.

Russia has indicated that it is close to creating a line of long-range missiles that will be no less effective than Oreshnik in overcoming missile defenses, Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) commander Sergei Karakaev said.

And now a look at the front line as of 17:00 on December 17.

According to the Russians: “Judging by the appearance of an Italian reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea, it is preparing another attack on Crimea”.

In the Kursk region, the Sever group of troops is consolidating its success east of Novoivanivka and advancing into the adjacent forest plantations. In the area of ​​Russky Porechny, fighting is taking place. At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are able to conduct an organized maneuverable defense and conduct counterattacks in the forested areas near Malaya Loknya and Cherkasy Porechny using armored vehicles.

In the Kharkiv direction, there are battles in Vovchansk, and in the Lyptsi direction, the line of combat contact does not show significant changes.

In Chasiv Yar, the Russian Armed Forces are expanding the control zone at the Fireproof facility, the main Ukrainian fortified area of ​​the city.

In the Pokrovsk direction south of Dachenske, the advance of Russian troops is reported, there are battles near Ucraino.

The offensive of the Russian Armed Forces is developing on the southern flank of the Kurachove direction. Fighting is going on in Kostiantynopolske, in Sukhi Yaly, a Russian attack aircraft crashed in the area.

In the direction of Velyka Novosilka, Russian troops have almost completed the coverage of Makarivka and are approaching Neskuchne. There are battles in the village of Novyi Komar, the Ukrainians are trying to counterattack. At the same time, villages are being captured from the direction of Rivnopil, and the collapse of Ukrainian defenses in the southern settlements of the Vremivka direction becomes a matter of time.

On the Zaporizhia front, the assault units of the Russian Armed Forces have begun separate offensive operations in the Orechiv direction. Using highly maneuverable equipment, after a powerful artillery barrage, attack aircraft are approaching the enemy and are fighting for strong points in forest plantations, occupying Ukrainian positions in heavy battles. The Ukrainians are responding with drone strikes. The main forces of the Russian army have not yet been brought into battle.

In the Belgorod region, an FPV drone of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked a moving truck, the driver was injured. A drone was shot down by an air defense system over the Belgorod region. In Shebekino, the building of a social facility was damaged as a result of a shell landing.

Graziella Giangiulio 

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