Victory Chronicles-DAY 1379

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi says troops have strengthened their position inside the Kharkiv regional town of Kupiansk, describing the latest updates from the front as “encouraging.” Located in close proximity to the Russian border, the town has seen intense fighting for months as Moscow tries to push west.

Syrskyi said he met with commanders who are overseeing Ukraine’s search-and-strike units and the Kupiansk tactical group. He said their briefing showed clear progress: Ukrainian forces have improved their tactical footing in the city and blocked routes that were previously used by Russian infiltration teams.

A mop-up operation to clear remaining Russian troops is still underway. Syrskyi stressed that Moscow’s only “successes” in Kupiansk exist in misinformation campaigns and don’t reflect realities on the ground. 

He added that Ukrainian units are working to squeeze Russian troops out of their foothold north of the city and from several nearby areas where they are still holding positions.

Norway pledges additional $500 million to fund U.S. weapons for Ukraine. NATO member Norway says it will put another $500 million toward the Alliances’s program that buys American weapons for Ukraine, a sharp boost that comes as allies try to strengthen Kyiv’s hand during emerging peace talks with Russia. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Espen Barth Eide announced the decision on Dec. 3 ahead of a NATO meeting in Brussels where the defense alliance is based.

He said the money will be split between two multinational packages – one with Germany and Poland, and another with Germany and the Netherlands. Alongside this pledge, Norway is positioned to cover roughly half of the total funding NATO hopes to secure this month. The alliance aims for about $1 billion in monthly contributions, though there is no limit, meaning more funding translates directly into more weapons for Ukraine.

Russian shelling shuts down Kherson’s trolleybus system after depot hit. Russian forces shelled a trolleybus depot in the southern city of Kherson for roughly an hour and a half on Dec. 3, knocking out the local electric transit system and damaging much of the fleet.

Yaroslav Shanko, head of the city’s military administration, said the overnight artillery strike tore through the depot’s power lines, workshops and administrative building. Photos from the scene show shattered windows and mangled metal across the yard.

Nineteen trolleybuses were damaged, many with blown-out windows and warped bodies. No depot employees were injured, Shanko said, but specialists are now assessing the full extent of the destruction.

Key Takeaways

1. Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin rejected the U.S.-Ukrainian peace proposal during his meeting with a US delegation in Moscow on December 2 and remains highly unlikely to accept any compromises short of his original war goals.
2. The Kremlin intensified its cognitive warfare effort that aims to portray a Russian victory in Ukraine as imminent in the lead up to the December 2 US-Russia meeting, likely to coerce the West into accepting Russia’s absolutist demands.
3. Putin exaggerated Russia’s claimed seizure of Pokrovsk as strategically important for large scale breakthroughs. ISW has not observed evidence to confirm the complete Russian seizure of Pokrovsk, but Russia’s seizure of the town in the near future is unlikely to produce rapid Russian advances.
4. Putin also intensified efforts to portray the Russian economy as resilient and able to support protracted hostilities in Ukraine in the lead up to the December 2 meeting.
5. The Kremlin’s recent economic policies indicate that the Russian economy is doing markedly worse than Putin’s portrayal, however.
6. Putin attempted to preemptively deflect blame onto Europe for Russia’s rejection of any peace plan iterations ahead of the December 2 US-Russian meeting.
7. Putin threatened Europe to prevent Europe from engaging in the peace process.
8. Russia may be trying to set information conditions to justify Russian strikes against Ukrainian ports to impose a de facto blockade of Ukraine.
9. Putin may also be setting information conditions to justify Russian attempts to seize Odesa and Mykolaiv oblasts, although Russia’s seizure of these regions remains unlikely at this time.
10. Russian forces are modifying their Shahed-type drones to target Ukrainian air defenders.
11. Russian forces recently advanced in Sumy Oblast and near Kostyantynivka, Pokrovsk, and Hulyaipole.

• Drones attack oil depots in Russia’s Tambov and Voronezh regions
• EU agrees on final date to phase out Russian gas
• Zelenskyy gives posthumous medals to families of Irish volunteers
• Kremlin says no compromise with US on Ukraine, no Putin-Trump meeting planned
• Pope proposes Italy as mediator in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia
• German foreign minister says Putin keeps seeking new excuses not to talk about peace
• Ukrainian foreign minister: Putin’s threat to strike ports show he does not plan to end war
• NATO intelligence shows no sign Putin is ready for peace deal
• Ukraine denies role in attack on Russian tanker off Türkiye – foreign ministry
• Norway rejects possibility of deals with Kremlin akin to “new Yalta”