Ukraine-Russia war live: Kyiv kills Putin’s general in Moscow scooter bomb attack

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 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.

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.

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.

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.”

Two people have been injured after Russia struck a civilian car in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, the region’s military administration said.

Russian forces dropped explosives on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), injuring a 51-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman.

The pair were both diagnosed with blast and craniocerebral injuries, concussion and shrapnel wounds. They have been taken to hospital for treatment, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

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.

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and former president of Russia, said the Ukrainian leadership faces imminent revenge for killing a top Russian general, according to RIA state news agency.

“Realising the inevitability of its military defeat, it launches cowardly and despicable strikes in peaceful cities,” Medvedev said.

A source in the Security Service of Ukraine has claimed Kyiv was responsible for the killing of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops.