Victory Chronicles-DAY 1384

Ukraine’s military intelligence service says its operatives, working with local resistance fighters in Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast, destroyed a vehicle carrying two soldiers from a Russian unit implicated in the Bucha massacres.

Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said the operation took place on 6 December, noting that both the car and the troops inside were eliminated. The strike targeted members of Russia’s 76th Air Assault Division – a unit widely linked to killings of civilians during the 2022 occupation of Bucha and other towns near Kyiv, as well as abuses documented on later fronts.

A short video released by Ukrainian intelligence shows the vehicle moments before it exploded, sending debris across the roadside. 

Russian strike destroys major medical supply warehouse in Dnipro. A Russian attack has wiped out one of Ukraine’s largest pharmaceutical logistics centers in the city of Dnipro, destroying an estimated 5 billion hryvnias (about $130 million) worth of medicines, the distributor BaDM said. No one was hurt, but the company reported that its 43,000-square-meter (462,800-square-foot) facility was completely reduced to rubble.

The strike is the latest in a pattern. In mid-November, Russian forces destroyed the Dnipro warehouse of Optima-Farm, Ukraine’s second-largest distributor. Weeks earlier, another Optima-Farm hub in Kyiv was hit, erasing what officials said was 20 percent of the country’s monthly medicine reserves. Since the full-scale invasion began, Russia has repeatedly targeted pharmaceutical storage sites, disrupting the supply chain that keeps hospitals, clinics and pharmacies stocked.

Fastiv to build new train station after Russian strike destroys original. The town of Fastiv will demolish its war-damaged train station and build a new one after a Russian attack left the structure beyond repair, Mayor Mykhailo Netiazhuk said on 8 December.

He noted that the decision came after a meeting led by Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, head of Ukraine’s state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia. Engineers concluded that the station’s damaged frame could not be safely restored, prompting plans for a full teardown and a new build. The project will undergo public consultation, with residents invited to help shape the design.

During construction, passengers will use a temporary modular facility set up on the platform. For now, the town has erected a heated tent to give travelers a place to wait out the cold. Despite the strike, long-distance passenger trains are already running through Fastiv again. 

Ukraine’s drone chief shares video of strikes on Russian refinery and occupied steel plant. Ukraine’s top drone commander, Robert “Magyar” Brovdi, has released new footage showing explosive strikes on two key industrial sites used to support Russia’s war – the Ryazan Oil Refinery inside Russia and the Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works in Russian-occupied Luhansk.

Brovdi said the Ryazan refinery, a major fuel hub for Russian forces, was hit again by long-range attack drones launched by crews from the 1st Unmanned Systems Centre, the 9th Kairos Battalion of the 414th Brigade, and teams from Ukraine’s military intelligence. Night-time video shows the site erupting in flames after several impacts.

He added that another group of operators struck the Alchevsk steelworks, a facility in occupied territory that manufactures shell casings for Russian troops. Drone footage shows a fire spreading across part of the plant after the strike.

Key Takeaways

1. The Kremlin positively reacted to the recently released US National Security Strategy (NSS).
2. Russian forces are conducting a battlefield air interdiction (BAI) campaign against Ukrainian ground lines of communications (GLOCs) in northern Kharkiv Oblast, likely to disrupt Ukrainian logistics to eventually facilitate battlefield gains.
3. Balloons from Belarusian airspace continue incursions into NATO airspace in Lithuania.
4. Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area. Russian forces recently advanced near Hulyaipole.

• Russia welcomes new US national security plan
• Czech president warns Europe not to appease Russia
• China and Russia hold third joint anti-missile drills on Russian territory
• Macron: Russia is locked in a path of escalation, pressure must continue
• Trump may distance himself from war in Ukraine, his eldest son says
• Trump claims Russia “is fine with” his peace plan, while Zelenskyy hasn’t even read it
• Zelenskyy responds to Trump’s criticism, highlights territorial disagreements in “peace plan”
• Family hit by Russian FPV drone as they cycled to collect water in Kostiantynivka: four injured, including two children
• Netherlands allocates additional EUR 700m to support Ukraine
• Black Sea vessel insurance triples after Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s shadow fleet
• Reuters: Russia sells oil to China at record discounts