⚡️The Russian military struck the control room of Ukraine's Secret Service (the SBU), the Defense Ministry said.

This was made in response to a recent Ukrainian attack with Western-made missiles on the Rostov region.
 
Also among the targets were the Kiev Design Bureau "Luch" and the positions of the Patriot air defense system. All facilities were hit, the military department said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Footage of massive fires in Kiev appeared on social media

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russian troops have liberated the settlements of Uspenovka and Novopustynka in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Defense MInistry has announced.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's weekly briefing on the special military operation's progress:

🔸 Ukraine lost over 2,945 militants, two tanks and 15 armored vehicles during the week in Russia's Tsentr Battlegroup's area of responsibility;

🔸 Ukraine lost over 3,610 soldiers during the week in the Zapad Battlegroup's area of responsibility;

🔸 During the week, Kiev's forces lost up to 440 soldiers and six warehouses in the Dnepr Battlegroup's area of responsibility;

🔸 Ukraine lost over 2,675 militants during the week in the Sever Battlegroup's area of responsibility;

🔸 The Russian Armed Forces liberated ten settlements in the Donetsk People's Republic during the week;

🔸 The Russian Air Defense Forces shot down a MiG-29 aircraft and 519 Ukrainian drones over the week.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

‘They were drunk, shot in all directions’

Refugee Alexander recalled in an interview with Sputnik how he and his wife saw mercenaries with Canadian chevrons near the village of Vesely Gai in the Donetsk People's Republic before the settlement was liberated by the Russian Army.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🛢 Tightened restrictions on Russian oil prices that are being discussed by G7 officials, according to Western media, will pose a risk to stability in global energy markets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

In the event of tightened restrictions on oil prices, Russia will do everything to minimize the consequences of such decisions and ensure its interests, Peskov added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️🇷🇺 The Russian flag was raised after Novopustynovka in the Donetsk People's Republic was liberated.

Footage by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against Danish mercenary Annabelle Jorgensen, who participated in the incursion into the Kursk region as part of Ukraine's forces.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Unwanted guest: Macron booed on arrival in cyclone-hit Mayotte

French President Emmanuel Macron was met by angry residents on his arrival to the cyclone-hit French island of Mayotte.

The president tried to explain to the people that it was the cyclone to blame for the troubles, not him. However, locals booed him and demanded his resignation.

At least 31 people died and thousands more affected by Cyclone Chido that hit the archipelago off the coast of Africa earlier this week.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ High-ranking officers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Special Services were killed in an attack on Ukraine's Secret Service (SBU) headquarters in Kiev, according to the pro-Russian underground movement.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

‘Starmer, you freeze me this Christmas’

The parody song "Freezing This Christmas", inspired by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s austerity policies, has hit a weekly downloads chart in England.

The song was composed by marketing specialist nicknamed Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers. It pokes fun at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer who decided to cut central heating benefits for almost 10 million retired people.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇸🇰 Fico warns Zelensky against blocking Russian gas

Slovakian PM Robert Fico has warned Ukraine of the consequences if Kiev blocks the transit of Russian gas destined for Bratislava through its territory

"If Zelensky does not allow our gas, a serious conflict may arise," Fico said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian Army hits Ukraine’s ‘strategic’ weapons manufacturer in retaliatory strike – Why is it important?

The Russian military has launched a high-precision strike on the Luch, a Kiev-based weapons designer, among other targets, in response to a recent attack with Western-made missiles on the Rostov region. Let’s take a closer look at the Luch.

Shard of Soviet legacy now owned by Kiev

▪️It was established in the former Soviet Union in 1965 with the aim of designing guided munition;

▪️After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the Luch was handed over to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry;

▪️The bureau is mentioned in local media as a scientific and production enterprise of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, which is of “strategic importance for the economy and security of the country”.

One of Kiev regime’s strategic armories

▪️The Luch designs and manufactures projectiles for the Olkha multiple launch rocket systems;

▪️It also produces the Neptune anti-ship missile systems;
Additionally, the bureau is involved in the research and development work on the creation of anti-tank guided missiles, land, air and sea-based missile systems, air guided missiles, anti-aircraft guided missiles, mine and torpedo weapons, as well as missile and other guided weapons control systems, plus anti-tank missile system simulators.

*the picture is AI-generated

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🥴 Zelensky told Fico that he would agree to the transit of Russian gas if Slovakia did not pay Russia for it until the end of the war

"But what fool would give us free gas?!" the Slovakian PM responded.

Zelensky also offered to "give" Slovakia €500 million from Russian assets if Fico voted for Ukraine's membership in NATO.

All this took place at a closed meeting in Brussels, where even European leaders were not allowed with mobile phones.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Ukrainian forces have carried out a missile attack on the town of Rylsk in Russia's Kursk region, the acting governor of the region, Alexander Khinstein, said.

Emergency services are at the scene, he added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🎥🎥 President Putin chairs State Council meeting

👉Watch the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd degree, for her contribution to the development of journalism

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Houthis vs Israel: What’s known about the new wave of escalation?

▪️On December 19, Yemeni Houthis attacked Israeli territory with 'Palestine-2' ballistic missiles. A number of military sites were targeted, with one rocket landing in Tel Aviv. The operation “successfully achieved its objectives,” the militia said. However, Israeli authorities only admitted that a school building in Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv, was damaged.

▪️The Israeli Air Force responded by striking military targets belonging to Houthis in Yemen.

▪️ This has been the third Israeli attack on Yemen over the past five months. But this time, Israel attacked the Yemeni capital of Sanaa for the first time.

▪️On Thursday, Houthis leader Abdelmalik al-Houthi highlighted that "two hypersonic ballistic missiles were launched, the first was after dinner, and the other coincided with the movement of the Israeli warplanes, which carried out an aggression on our country. The hypersonic missile was launched towards the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and this caused great confusion."

▪️In turn, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called the Houthis "the last stronghold" of the Axis of Resistance and promised they would pay a high price for missile attacks on Israeli territory.

▪️On the same day, Houthi Ministry of Information advisor Tawfiq al-Humairi said Yemen is “in a state of conflict with the Israeli regime”.

Yemeni Houthis, who are part of the so-called Axis of Resistance, have regularly fired drones and rockets towards Israel in solidarity with Palestinians suffering as a result of Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

POV: Western air defenses try to intercept Russia's 'cutting-edge' Oreshnik missile

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt