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BBC News: A website founded by a former US Marine who now lives in Russia has fuelled a rumour that Volodymyr Zelensky purchased two luxury yachts with American aid money. Despite the false claim, the disinformation plot was successful. It took off online and was echoed by members of the US Congress making crucial decisions about military spending.

The Kyiv Independent: Russian forces advanced between one and half and two kilometers in some areas of the Avdiivka sector at the cost of around 20,000 killed and wounded in the past two months, Oleksandr Shtupun, the spokesman for the Tavria group of forces, said on Dec. 20.

Reuters: The U.S.-led coalition imposing a price cap on seaborne Russian oil announced changes on Wednesday to its compliance regime the Treasury Department said will make it harder for Russian exporters to bypass the cap. The Treasury also imposed fresh sanctions on a ship manager owned by the Russian government and three oil traders involved in Russian oil trade.

Ukrinform: Ukraine's defense forces have destroyed a Russian Grad multiple rocket launcher and a field ammunition depot on the southern axis.

Nikkei Asia: Japan will consider allowing the U.S. to supply Japanese-made Patriot missiles to Europe and elsewhere, in a move that could indirectly help Ukraine in its war against Russia.

France 24: Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny did not appear at a scheduled court hearing on Monday and has not been seen or heard from in 15 days.

The Guardian: Former US marine Paul Whelan says he feels “abandoned” and betrayed by his country after being imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges, the BBC reported in an interview published on Wednesday.

Reuters: Moldova said on Wednesday it had acquired an aerial surveillance system from French defence electronics maker Thales, a first step towards developing air defences after missile debris from the war in Ukraine was found on its territory.

The Insider has found out how companies involved in the production of Russian tanks import goods, and which countries are the most common suppliers to the Kremlin’s military machine.

Reuters: Germany's Wintershall Dea on Wednesday said Putin's decree seizing its Russia assets shows once again that Russia has become unreliable and unpredictable. Decrees signed by Putin on Tuesday showed that Wintershall Dea and Austria's OMV are to formally lose their shares in gas extraction projects.

The Moscow Times: The Russian military will not impose a one-year service limit for mobilized soldiers despite requests from the soldiers’ families, a St. Petersburg opposition politician said Wednesday, citing a letter he received from the military.

Meduza: Russian enlistment officers handed out military summonses at a naturalization ceremony in St. Petersburg. Police said that 11 new Russian citizens from “neighboring countries” were given orders to report for military registration after swearing “to protect the freedom and independence of the Russian Federation.”

Reuters: Kyiv plans to produce a million FPV (first-person-view) drones, widely in demand on the front line, and more than 11,000 medium- and long-range attack drones next year, Ukraine's minister for strategic industries said on Wednesday.

Interfax-Ukraine: Ukraine on Wednesday received EUR 150 million in non-repayable financial assistance from the EU as part of a bilateral agreement to finance the program supporting Ukraine's rapid recovery.

Reuters: Prosecutors in Germany said on Wednesday they would move to confiscate more than 720 million euros from the Frankfurt bank account of a Russian financial institution, marking the country's first such attempt.

UK and partners join together to establish The Tallinn Mechanism to bolster Ukraine’s cyber security.

POLITICO: Ukraine's spies aim to intensify intelligence operations and conduct sabotage strikes deep in Russian-controlled territory next year to bring the war as close to the Kremlin as possible, the head of Ukraine's SBU security service told POLITICO.

Reuters: The vast majority of Ukrainians would not support the sacking of Valeriy Zaluzhnyi from his position as head of the armed forces, a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed on Wednesday.

Reuters: A Russian court fined Alphabet's Google on Wednesday 4.6 billion roubles ($50.84 million) for failing to delete so-called "fake" information about the war in Ukraine and other topics.

Reuters: Japan's Bridgestone Corp, one of the world's top tyremakers, said on Wednesday it had sold its Russian assets to S8 Capital, a Russian holding company that has now scooped up a handful of assets from departing Western firms.

worth mentioning

Dutch minister: 'If you don't stop Russia now, they'll go further. It's not just Ukraine'

Anti-war candidate Duntsova applies to run against Putin for Russian president

Five mln barrels of Russian Sokol oil stuck en route to India

52 days of hell: one family's story from the siege of Mariupol

Russian billionaire Abramovich loses legal challenge against EU sanctions

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