Elimination of Russian general in Moscow, Boyko under interrogation by SBU and multiple citizenship. Highlights for December 17

Explosion of a Russian general in Moscow

On the morning of December 17, the commander of the Russian Armed Forces' radiation, chemical and biological defense troops, Igor Kirillov, and his assistant were blown up in Moscow. Both were killed.

According to hromadske's sources, the Security Service of Ukraine was involved in this operation. He was blown up using a scooter with explosives that were triggered by remote control.

The day before, the SBU notified Kirillov of suspicion of committing war crimes. According to law enforcement, he ordered the use of banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian army.

Boyko under interrogation by the SBU

Yuriy Boyko, MP and head of the Platform for Life and Peace, was summoned for questioning by the Security Service of Ukraine after making statements about “radicals” in Ukraine.

Afterwards, the politician recorded a new video in which he apologized for his words and called on other politicians to “unite the country and people” and “make sure that we win as soon as possible”.

Boyko also said that he did not want Russia to use his words to justify aggression, and called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal.

Brigade commander who abused soldiers is served suspicion notice

Law enforcement officers have served a notice of suspicion of abuse of office to the commander of the 211th Pontoon and Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces Support Forces, where journalists revealed facts of abuse of the military. Other officials of the brigade are also under investigation.

The suspect's name has not been disclosed, but it is clear that it is Oleh Poberezhniuk, as he is the brigade commander.

According to the investigation, in the fall of 2023, he involved four subordinates in the construction of his house in the Khmelnytskyi region.

Multiple citizenship

The Verkhovna Rada supported as a basis a draft law introducing the institution of multiple citizenship in Ukraine. It may be allowed in the following cases:

• simultaneous acquisition of Ukrainian citizenship and citizenship of another state by a child at birth;
• acquisition by a child who is a citizen of Ukraine of the citizenship of his or her foreign adoptive parents;
• automatic acquisition of another citizenship by a citizen of Ukraine as a result of marriage to a foreigner.

Tyshchenko's case is brought to court

MP Mykola Tyshchenko will be tried for unlawful deprivation of liberty.

He is accused of unlawful deprivation of liberty (Part 2 of Article 146 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) in connection with a clash in the center of Dnipro in June. Then a group of unidentified men in uniform attacked Dmytro Pavlov, a former member of the Kraken special unit (call sign Syn), while he was walking with his child.

Verkhovna Rada reveals how many Ukrainians have gone abroad

There are currently 7.7 million Ukrainian citizens abroad, according to MP Oleksii Honcharenko.

According to the data provided by Ukrainian diplomatic missions abroad, 5.3 million Ukrainians are currently in the European Union.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported that as of December 16, 2024, there were about 6,253,700 Ukrainians in Europe.

Suspension of online deferral in “Reserve+”

From December 17 and approximately until December 30, students, postgraduate students and doctoral students will temporarily be unable to apply for an online deferment in the Reserve+ application.

This is due to technical work in the Unified State Electronic Database on Education. The technical work will not affect the deferments already received, the status will be displayed in the application as before.

New alleged victims of the Assad regime found

A mass grave containing the remains of thousands of people has been found near the Syrian capital, Damascus.

The found grave is located in al-Qutaifa, 40 km north of the capital.

Muaz Mustafa, head of the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), said that this is just one of the mass graves that have been identified over the years.

According to him, 100,000 bodies is the “most conservative estimate” of those buried in this place. Journalists have not been able to independently confirm these figures.

Other important news

• Kherson authorities have asked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to help create a “protective dome” to protect people and critical infrastructure from attacks by Russian drones.
• “Poland cannot give all its weapons to Ukraine, we are in a sense also a frontline state,” Tusk said.
• Soon, it will be possible to report poor mobile signal in Diia. The Cabinet of Ministers has adopted a resolution.
• The SBU military counterintelligence neutralized a large-scale Russian agent network that was spying on the Defense Forces in five regions of Ukraine at once.
• The United Kingdom has provided emergency support worth 35 million pounds (over $44 million) to help Ukraine restore its power grid.