Victory Chronicles-DAY 1386

Ukraine’s top military commander says the Russo-Ukrainian war is increasingly being fought by unmanned systems known as drones that are responsible for roughly 60 percent of all confirmed strikes along the front line. 

Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Ukrainian drones destroyed or damaged 81,500 Russian targets in November 2025, up from 77,000 in October—the sixth consecutive month of growth. He said the surge reflects rapidly improving tactics, training, and domestic drone production.

The scale of operations underscores how central unmanned systems have become to Ukraine’s defense. In November alone, Ukrainian aerial drone teams conducted more than 304,000 missions, while ground-based robotic systems carried out nearly 2,000. Syrskyi said Ukraine has regained a technical and tactical edge in first-person-view (FPV) attack drones—cheap, highly maneuverable systems that have reshaped the battlefield much like precision-guided munitions did in past conflicts.

But he also cautioned that Ukraine’s lead is fragile. Russia is ramping up its own drone manufacturing and aims to supply its frontline units with as many as 500,000 FPV drones per month, he said. Both sides now fire an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 FPV drones every day, illustrating how the war has turned into the world’s most drone-intensive conflict.

Syrskyi stressed that Ukraine will need faster procurement decisions, better coordination, and continued investment in unmanned systems to stay ahead in what has become a rapidly evolving, technology-driven war of attrition.

Ukrainian companies win $9.7 billion in court rulings against Russia as war damage mounts. As the Russo-Ukrainian war enters its fourth bloody year, new data from Opendatabot, based in frontline and heavily targeted regions, sued Russia 311 and won, securing court-ordered compensation totalling 386 billion hryvnias (about $9.7 billion). 

The legal push reflects a broader Ukrainian strategy: documenting destruction now so that both Russia and future international reparations mechanisms can be compelled to pay later. With the United States, Canada, and European allies debating how to use frozen Russian assets to fund reconstruction, these domestic rulings help quantify the economic toll of the invasion and strengthen Ukraine’s claims on the global stage.

The largest single ruling to date came from the Commercial Court of Chernihiv Oblast, which awarded the agribusiness group Magnat nearly 288 billion hryvnias (roughly $7.2 billion). The decision covers lost profits from two major international ventures and extensive legal expenses, making it the biggest successful business claim of the war. That one judgment pushed Chernihiv—heavily bombarded during Russia’s failed attempt to encircle Kyiv in 2022—to the top of Ukraine’s national ranking for war-damage awards, with courts there now assigning 344.7 billion hryvnias (about $8.6 billion) in total compensation.

By contrast, courts have ordered 22.9 billion hryvnias ($580 million) tied to losses in Zaporizhzhia, 6.36 billion ($160 million) in Donetsk, and 4.68 billion ($120 million) in Odesa—regions that continue to experience frequent strikes or occupation-related disruptions.

Since the invasion began, Ukrainian courts have issued 639 rulings on such cases and have fully satisfied 85 percent of all claims, rejecting only three.

For Ukrainian businesses, these awards are largely symbolic for now—Russia is not paying. But they serve a critical long-term purpose: establishing a detailed, court-verified record of wartime losses that Ukraine hopes will underpin future reparations. As policymakers in Washington, Ottawa, and European capitals consider paths to redirect frozen Russian assets, Ukraine’s growing stack of legal victories strengthens the argument that the aggressor should ultimately foot the bill for the damage it caused. 

Russian attack on Dnipropetrovsk region kills 1 civilian, injures 2. A Russian strike on the southeastern region of Dnipropetrovsk overnight left one male civilian dead and two others injured, local officials said, as drones and artillery hit several communities along the Dnipro River that bisects the war-torn country from Russian aggression..

Vladyslav Haivanenko, the region’s acting military administrator, said the man was killed in the Zelenodolsk community after an explosive first-person view drone slammed into the area, rupturing a gas pipeline. He said two civilians, ages 23 and 39 years old, were injured in separate attacks on communities around the city of Nikopol, a frontline area that faces constant hostility across the river in Russian-occupied territory.

Ukrainian special forces stop Russian infiltration attempt in Donetsk region. Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) say a five-man Russian team that was trying to slip through forested terrain in the easternmost Donetsk region was eliminated during a nighttime military operation.

According to the military branch, operators from the 8th Regiment were carrying out a special task when they spotted the group. Taking advantage of advantageous weather conditions, the Russians had attempted to move behind Ukrainian lines, a tactic that has become more common as fighting in the east of Ukraine intensifies.

The Ukrainian team intercepted them before they could reach their target area. All five members of the Russian group were taken out, halting the infiltration attempt.

Key Takeaways

1. The Kremlin is significantly intensifying its cognitive warfare effort to present the Russian military and economy as able to inevitably win a war of attrition against Ukraine.
2. The Kremlin’s cognitive warfare effort aims to achieve several of Putin’s original war aims through a negotiated settlement, as Russian forces are currently unable to achieve them on the battlefield.
3. Russian forces have gained 0.77 percent of Ukrainian territory since the start of 2025 while suffering disproportionately high personnel costs.
4. Russia’s resources are not endless as Putin is trying to assert, and Putin currently appears to be facing difficult decision points regarding the strategic sustainment of Russian force generation.
5. Putin is very likely preparing to attempt to offset Russia’s near-exhaustion of voluntary recruitment in 2026 by mobilizing elements of Russia’s strategic reserve to sustain combat operations in Ukraine. The Kremlin remains unlikely to undertake a single large-scale mobilization at this time, however, and is most likely to persistently recruit reservists on a rolling basis.
6. A Kremlin official suggested that Russia may try to renege on any future peace agreement it signs with Ukraine due to the Ukrainian government’s alleged “illegitimacy” – as ISW has long warned.
7. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the latest 20-point US-proposed peace plan.
8. Ukraine continued discussions with its European allies on December 8 about the ongoing peace negotiations.
9. Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman and Pokrovsk and in western Zaporizhia Oblast. Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Oleksandrivka.

• Kremlin welcomes Trump’s latest remarks on Ukraine
• US senator wants Trump envoys to be replaced as ‘Witkoff and Kushner seem to side with Russia’
• CNN: US and European officials deny Trump’s claim of Russian edge on battlefield
• EU ambassadors reportedly agree on new sanctions against Russia
• FT: EU races to adopt special legislation on blocking Russian assets
• Large Indian refiners take Russian oil as Reliance avoids trade
• CNN: Europe fears Trump will blame them and Ukraine for the failure of his ‘peace’ efforts
• Reuters: Finland steps up anti-drone defences amid concerns about Russia
• Zelenskyy: If Russians agree to energy truce, we are ready
• FT: Trump seeks Ukraine-Russia peace deal ‘by Christmas’