Victory Chronicles-DAY 1387

Long-range drones operated by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) struck the Filanovsky offshore oil platform in the Caspian Sea in a historical first on Russia’s oil-production infrastructure in that region. 

The attack saw four impacts recorded that halted output for more than wells at one of the Caspian Sea’s fields. “This could have catastrophic consequences for the dirty Russian orcs,” said German military analyst Jurgen Nauditt. He added that this is the first time Ukraine has suspended operations at a Russian oil platform. It’s is owned by Lukoil-Nizhnevolzhskneft, a subsidiary of Russia’s Lukoil group.

The disruption underscores how Ukraine is widening the reach of its campaign against Russian energy assets that add to support Moscow’s war effort. The Filanovsky field is one of the largest in Russia’s sector of the Caspian, with estimated reserves of 129 million tonnes of oil and roughly 30 billion cubic meters of gas. Before the attack, production moved through regional sea routes that help fuel the Russian economy.

The strike came a day after SBU Sea Baby maritime drones damaged the Dashan, an internationally sanctioned tanker from Russia’s cover oil tanker fleet, as it traveled through Ukraine’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea toward the port of Novorossiysk.

US House of Representatives approves defense bill with $800 million for Ukraine. The U,S, House has passed a nearly $1 trillion defense policy bill that locks in another $800 million in military aid for Ukraine and limits any drawdown of .S. forces in Europe. The bicameral legislative chamber voted 312–112 to advance the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which now moves to the Senate.

The centerpiece for Kyiv’s defense is the extension of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. It provides two $400 million installment payments over the next two years, allowing  Wahshinton to buy weapons directly from U.S. manufacturers instead of pulling from Pentagon stockpiles. For Ukrainians on the front line, this mechanism has become a lifeline when artillery, air defenses or armored vehicles run low.

The bill also sets a floor of 76,000 US troops in Europe, a guardrail that is meant to reassure allies as U.S. President Donald Trump pursues a more Russia-friendly national security strategy.

Russian strike wipes out commuter-train depot south of Kyiv, destroying 27 railcars. A Russian airborne attack on the Kyvian suburban city of Fastiv, obliterated a commuter-train depot and 27 railcars in the overnight hours of December 5-6, Ukrainian officials said. The strike gutted the facility that maintained the electric trains linking Kyiv with surrounding regions.

Deputy Community Development Minister Oleksii Balesta, who toured the site with diplomats from Germany, France, Switzerland and the United States, called it a deliberate hit on civilian infrastructure. Among the destroyed stock were three modernised electric trains that served routes across Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. Early damage estimates put the losses at about 300 million hryvnias (roughly $7.7 million), he said.

Rebuilding the depot alone will require another 100 million hryvnias ($2.6 million). Kyiv currently estimates that Ukraine costs for reconstruction and recovery are estimated at $524 billion.

Ukrainian sea drones hit Russian covert-fleet tanker in Black Sea. Ukrainian security officials say their newly developed Sea Baby naval drones struck a Russian covert-fleet oil tanker in the Black Sea on Dec. 10, crippling a vessel that was used to move sanctioned oil. The Dashan, a Comoros-flagged ship sailing with its tracking system switched off, was moving at high speed through Ukraine’s exclusive economic zone toward the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

Video released by the SBU shows a series of blasts ripping through the tanker’s stern. Early assessments indicate the ship was knocked out of service. An operation like this, officials say, is designed to hit the Kremlin where it hurts: its covert maritime network for transporting oil despite international sanctions.

The Dashan’s value is about $30 million and typically carries roughly $60 million in oil products per trip. It has been sanctioned by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Switzerland for helping Russia skirt restrictions by sailing “dark,” without an active transponder.

Key Takeaways

1. The Kremlin is setting information conditions to reject any meaningful security guarantees for Ukraine by threatening Europe.
2. The Kremlin preemptively rejected the legitimacy of any future Ukrainian government that it does not directly control in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent statements that he is ready to hold elections before the end of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
3. The Kremlin once again rejected the Ukrainian-proposed ceasefire on energy infrastructure strikes and signaled Russia’s commitment to destroying the Ukrainian power grid in the winter months.
4. Available open-source information indicates that Russian forces have not yet seized Pokrovsk, but the situation in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad area remains difficult. ISW continues to assess that Russian forces will very likely seize Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, but will take more time and suffer more casualties to do so.
5. Ukrainian forces struck a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the Black Sea region with unmanned surface vehicles (USV) on December 10.
6. Russia may be setting conditions to threaten Odesa Oblast from Russian-occupied Transnistria in an effort to fix Ukrainian forces in southwestern Ukraine.
7. Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Pokrovsk. Russian forces recently advanced in northern Kharkiv Oblast and the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area and near Oleksandrivka.

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