Victory Chronicles-DAY 1377

Ukraine’s military shot down a Russian Shahed suicide drone that, for the first time, was carrying an air-to-air missile airhead, a configuration that is meant to target Ukrainian aircraft that track these drones. The discovery was confirmed by Serhii “Flesh” Beskrestnov, a well-known Ukrainian radio-technology specialist, who posted photos of the wreckage on social media.

Beskrestnov said the drone was fitted with an R-60 missile, a Soviet-designed short-range weapon that is typically launched from fighter jets. The R-60 can strike targets within about 6.2 miles and uses proximity fuses to detonate near helicopters or tactical aircraft. Mounting such a missile on a slow, expendable Shahed suggests Russia is experimenting and innovating with ways to deter Ukraine’s pilots from intercepting the drones.

Ukrainian officials have warned in recent weeks that Russia is testing operator-controlled Shaheds to track and threaten aircraft in midair, though no Ukrainian planes have been eliminated by drones so far.

The Netherlands provides 250 million euros ($270 million) more for U.S. weapons to Ukraine. Holland will contribute an additional 250 million euros ($270 million) to a NATO program that buys American-made weapons for Ukraine, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans announced on Dec. 1. The funds go through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, a mechanism that allows NATO countries to pool money to purchase U.S. armament for rapid delivery.

This is the second Dutch installment that is dedicated to buying American equipment, Brekelmans said, adding that the decision comes as Russia keeps pounding Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure with near-daily combined missile and drone attacks. Those strikes have repeatedly damaged power plants and disrupted basic services as winter approaches.

Brekelmans said the new contribution will help pay for air-defense missiles used by Ukraine’s F-16 fighter jets, along with other high-demand ammunition.

Russian missile strike kills three civilians, injures eight in Dnipro. A Russian missile struck the city of Dnipro on Dec. 1, killing three civilians and injuring eight others in one of the region’s deadliest attacks in recent weeks. The blast ripped through a duster of . R small businesses, scattering debris across nearby streets, blowing out windows in surrounding blocks, and engulfing the area in thick smoke as rescue crews rushed in. 

Vladyslav Haivanenko, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional administration, urged residents to stay in shelters as emergency workers searched the area. Photos shared on local channels showed people bleeding from cuts caused by flying glass and firefighters picking through debris outside a damaged car service station.

Drone carrying cluster bombs removed from rooftop near Kyiv. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service published a video on Dec. 1 that documented a delicate, long-hours effort to remove a damaged Russian drone packed with cluster munitions from the roof of a high-rise in Vyshhorod, a city just north of Kyiv. 

The drone crash-landed during an overnight attack but did not detonate, leaving a warhead and 21 cluster bomblets scattered across the rooftop. Another unexploded munition was found on the grounds below.

Emergency officials said the devices posed an immediate threat to hundreds of residents. Cluster munitions contain dozens of small explosive elements, many of which carry self-destructive timers that can fail or trigger unpredictably. Crews evacuated the upper floors and sealed off the area before the removal.

Video shows technicians using a drone and a small unmanned robot, a tracked machine about the size of a lawnmower, to collect each bomblet and place it into a reinforced safe container. A crane then lowered the container into a bomb-disposal vehicle for transporationt.

All of the explosives were later destroyed in a controlled detonation at a secure site. Authorities said the operation likely prevented a blast that could have torn through the building and caused massive casualties.

Key Takeaways

• U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the U.S.-proposed peace plan aims to ensure Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and economic development during the U.S.-Ukrainian talks in Hallandale Beach, Florida on November 30.
• Russian information space voices continue to argue that the Kremlin will likely reject a ceasefire or any iteration of the U.S.-proposed peace plan because the Kremlin views these efforts as inconsequential and as a hindrance to Russia’s goals in Ukraine and globally.
• The Kremlin continues to advance a false narrative that Ukraine’s front line and political stability are on the verge of collapse in an effort to convince the West to capitulate to Russian demands that Russia cannot secure militarily. ISW continues to assess that a Russian battlefield victory is neither imminent nor inevitable and that the Russian war effort has vulnerabilities the West has not exploited.
• The Russian effort to seize Pokrovsk (Donetsk region) remains prolonged and costly as Russian forces are optimized for positional warfare and can only achieve a slow rate of advance.
• Russian drones appear to be violating Moldovan airspace during large, combined missile and drone strikes.
• Ukrainian forces successfully used the Sting interceptor drone to down Russian jet-powered long-range drones for the first time as Ukraine increases technological innovation efforts to combat Russia’s long-range drone and missile campaigns.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast and near Pokrovsk.

• NATO considers being ‘more aggressive’ against Russia’s hybrid warfare
• EU commissioner: Russia must be held accountable for war crimes
• Zelenskyy speaks with Trump’s envoy Witkoff, joined by French President Macron and German Prime Minister Starmer
• CNN: Florida talks explore ‘creative’ approach to bar Ukraine from NATO
• Third Russia-linked oil tanker suffers explosions at sea
• Russian missile strike on Dnipro: four civilians killed and 40 injured as search operations wrap up