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The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | July 16th, 2025: Putin’s Assassins Eliminated In Kyiv & Israel Strikes Syria's Capital
00:16:08
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Mike Baker
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Unknown
Foreign.
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Mike Baker
It's Wednesday, the 16th of July. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, Russian assassins carry out a high profile hit on the streets of Kiev, gunning down a top Ukrainian special operations commander, marking the latest casualty of the COVID war that's being fought behind the front lines and off the radar. We'll have those details later in the show. Syria's embattled Druze minority has reached a second ceasefire agreement with the government in Damascus, Syria, after several days of bloody clashes that left hundreds dead. The deal follows a wave of powerful airstrikes in Damascus carried out by the Israeli military to prevent further attacks on the Druze community. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. I wanted to start things off today with a story that really didn't get much airplay in the mainstream press, but illustrates the high stakes covert war unfolding beneath the headlines of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Now, we usually talk about this war in terms of territory or weapon systems and massive missile barrages, big picture stuff. But there's another side of this war that's happening in the shadows. Last Thursday, Colonel Ivan Voronnich, a top Ukrainian special operations commander, was gunned down in broad daylight on the streets of Kiev. Now, he was carrying shopping bags when the assassin emerged from behind a parked car. There's no shouting, no warning, just five precision shots and Voronin collapsed on the pavement as pedestrians scattered. Surveillance footage later captured the attack, a sudden surgical hit by an assassin who fled the scene alongside a female accomplice. Now, Voronich was no ordinary target. He was a senior officer in Ukraine's SBU intelligence service. It's part of a division responsible for covert missions deep inside Russia. According to multiple sources, Voronich was one of the masterminds behind a number of successful operations that includes, most recently, Operation Spiderweb. That operation reportedly wiped out more than two dozen airplanes parked at Russian airfields, delivering a significant and embarrassing blow to Moscow's air force and humiliating the Kremlin leadership. He was also reportedly involved in planning last year's Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk region. Now, in short, Voronich wasn't just another name on a list. He was one of the Kremlin's most wanted. He was one of Kiev's most capable commanders. And it appears that Vladimir Putin wanted him gone. Just days after the assassination, Ukraine's SBU tracked down the suspected killers. A Russian male operative and a woman identified as 34 year old Norman Gulyeva. According to the SBU, the pair were part of a, quote, agent combat group from Russia's FSB deployed into Ukraine in advance to carry out the hit. Ukrainian agents managed to locate the safe house where the assassins had been hiding. And when the FSB operatives resisted arrest during the raid, while they were killed right there on the spot, the SBU released footage of their bodies, which is its own message to Moscow spymasters. The Ukrainian security service says the FSB team had surveilled Voronin for days, learning his routes and routines. They were reportedly handed the coordinates to a hidden cache containing the murder weapon, a pistol equipped with a suppressor. Inside Russia, pro Kremlin outlets and telegram channels wasted no time celebrating that hit. One post from a propaganda channel called it a quote, fat target, adding applause to the liquidators. Another described Voronic unit as a major thorn in Russia's side, an elite force responsible for sabotage operations in Russian territory. Ukrainian officials have framed the murder as a retaliatory strike. Kremlin ordered response to the success of special ops teams like Vortiches. Ukraine's security chief didn't mince words. He called the colonel, quote, our brave comrade, and praised the COVID counterintelligence operation that found and eliminated the Russian assassins. Now, this hit wasn't an isolated incident, and both sides are carrying out these covert operations. Over the last two years, Ukraine has been linked to a string of high profile killings inside Russia. Bombings like the one that killed nationalist Darya Dugina, car bombs in Moscow, and hits on senior Russian commanders. Russia has returned the favor with operations, well, like this one, reaching deep into Kiev. Now, these shadow missions show a side of the war that most headlines miss. It's a covert tit for tat between intelligence services where the battlefield isn't Donetsk or Kharkiv, but it's a quiet street in Kyiv or an entrance to an apartment building in Moscow. The front lines themselves may be measured in kilometers and drone strikes. But this quiet war, the one fought by spies and saboteurs, may be just as critical to shaping how it all ends. And the successful operations resonate deeply inside the Kremlin walls and within keep's leadership. Up next, after another day of intense fighting and Israeli airstrikes in Damascus, Syrian leaders have reached a ceasefire deal with the country's Druze minority. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's take a brief moment, shall we, to just talk about ways to protect your hard earned savings. Now, look, I know the personal finance talk isn't everybody's favorite, but it is incredibly important to your financial health. Now, one of the smartest ways to protect your savings is through diversification. And one way to diversify is with gold from Birch Gold Group. Look, gold is up some 40% in the past year. And central banks, well, they're buying record amounts of gold, in part because of global instability. Birch Gold Group makes it easy to own physical gold, either in your IRA or like a lot of folks, just stored safely at home. Just text PDB to the number 989898 and Birch Gold will send you a free information kit on gold. There's no obligation. It's just useful information with an A plus rating. With a Better Business Bureau and tens of thousands of happy customers take control of your savings today. Again, text PDB to the number 989898. Mike Baker here. I want to take just a few moments of your time to talk about your online security. That's important, right? Look, right now the headlines are chock full of data breaches and regulatory rollbacks. And frankly, all of that can make us more vulnerable. But there is something that you can do about it. 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Miranda Devine
Politics, and the people behind the headlines. I'm Miranda Devine, New York Post columnist and the host of the brand new podcast Pod Force One. Every week, I'll sit down for candid conversations with Washington's most powerful disruptors, lawmakers, newsmakers, and even the President of the United States. These are the leaders shaping the future of America and the world. Listen to podforceone with me, Miranda Devine every week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. You don't want to miss an episode.
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Caitlin Becker
Hey, I'm Caitlin Becker, the host of the New York Post Cast, and I've got exactly what you need to start your weekdays. Every morning I'll bring you the stories that matter, plus the news. People actually talk about the juicy details in the worlds of politics, business, pop culture and everything in between. It's what you want from the New York Post wrapped up in one snappy show. Ask your smart speaker to play the NYPOST podcast. Listen and subscribe on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Mike Baker
Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. After several days of bloody clashes that left at least 248people dead, Syria's embattled Druze minority has reached a second ceasefire agreement with the government in Damascus Now. The deal, which takes immediate effect in the Druze majority city of Sweda, was announced Wednesday morning by dru's religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbu, and Syria's official government news agency. It's the second ceasefire to be declared in less than 24 hours after the first druce collapsed, hours after it was announced Tuesday night. That's according to a report from Reuters. Under the agreement, regime forces will deploy the checkpoints in the area, securing roads in and out of Sweden. State institutions in the city will resume operations and a joint committee of Druze and Syrian regime officials will be established to investigate the crimes and legal violations that occurred during the fighting that engulfed the city. Additionally, all detainees arrested during the unrest will reportedly be released. The announcement of the ceasefire comes after a third day of sectarian violence between Syrian government forces and Druze fighters in southern Syria that left hundreds dead. Fighting initially erupted in Sweda on Sunday between local Druze groups and and Sunni Islamist Bedouin fighters. Syrian Islamist government forces well soon joined the fray in theory to stop the fighting, but they were accused by community leaders of backing the Bedouin militias and quickly engaged in clashes with Druze militias. The Druze are an Arab minority sect that branched out from Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, including some 24,000 that live in the Israel controlled Golan Heights near the Syrian border. They're widely regarded inside Israel as a loyal minority with many members serving in the idf. As the clashes intensified, Israeli forces entered the fight, conducting airstrikes against the Syrian military on Monday and Tuesday. Israeli officials said they were trying to protect the Druze community from Islamic extremists and regime forces and to enforce a demilitarized zone in southern Syria near the Israeli border. A ceasefire between regime forces in the Druze was briefly declared Tuesday evening, but quickly broke down after reports that Syrian troops had continued attacking civilians. That prompted Druze spiritual leaders to call on the community to keep fighting. As of Wednesday morning, at least 248 people had been killed in the bloodshed, including 92 members of the Druze minority, at least 138 Syrian security personnel and and some 18 Bedouin fighters, according to the UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At one point during the fighting, 21 Druze civilians were killed in summary executions by government forces. Israel escalated their operations on Wednesday morning, unleashing powerful airstrikes on the Syrian capital of Damascus near the Presidential palace, leveling parts of Syria's Defense Ministry building. Syria's health ministry said one person was killed and 28 were left injured by the strikes. Israeli officials vowed to destroy any Syrian government forces attacking the Druze community and demanded their immediate withdrawal from southern Syria. In a statement, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the IDF would, quote, continue to operate vigorously in Sweda to destroy the forces that attacked the Druze until they withdraw completely, end quote. Israeli leaders remain deeply mistrustful of the Sunni Islamist government that replaced the regime of Bashar Al Assad after his overthrow in December. That government is now, of course, led by former Al Qaeda member Ahmed Al Sharah, who, despite renouncing his past ties to terrorism and pledges to unify the war fractured country's religious minorities well has struggled to maintain stability. Leaders in Damascus have condemned Israel's airstrikes as a blatant violation of their sovereignty, while framing the violence in Sweda as criminal unrest caused by bandits and criminals. In a statement on Wednesday, Syrian officials said all those responsible for the lawlessness will be brought to justice. The latest unrest has rattled the Trump administration at the same time, which has bet heavily on Al Sharaf as a stabilizing force in the region, encouraging normalization with Israel. Now a senior official told Axios on Wednesday that the White House had asked Israel to halt its strikes and open up direct talks with Syria, fearing that any further escalation could undermine progress on a new security agreement between Damascus and Jerusalem. But given the repeated clashes between regime forces and the Druze community, those talks now hang by a thread. The major question now will be whether the latest ceasefire will hold and if Al Sharah can rein in the various extremist groups, including those with significant ISIS connections, threatening the country's religious minorities. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Wednesday, the 16th of July. Now, if you have any questions or comments, and I hope you do, please reach out to me at pdb@the first tv.com and as you've no doubt heard from all the major media outlets, if you want to listen to the show ad free, well, you can do that. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.
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Sam
Sam.