Overview
- Rostov governor Yuri Slyusar said two crew members died in a port tanker fire and one person was killed in nearby Bataysk, with additional injuries reported after overnight drone attacks.
- The Russian Defense Ministry reported downing 77 fixed-wing Ukrainian drones from late Dec. 17 to early Dec. 18 across several regions including Crimea and over the Black Sea, following an earlier claim of 30 shootdowns in three hours.
- The FSB and Interior Ministry said they foiled a planned bombing in Volgodonsk, detaining a 16-year-old allegedly carrying a backpack IED estimated at about 10 kg TNT equivalent near the city administration.
- Russian authorities said a large Ukrainian UAV assembly workshop near Kardashivka in Sumy Oblast was destroyed by drone strikes.
- Ukrainian regional officials reported Russian attacks that wounded civilians in Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Kherson on Dec. 17, and said an FPV drone struck a fire engine in Druzhkivka, injuring four firefighters.