As Russia Makes More Gains In East, Trump Concedes "At Some Point, Size Will Win"
Little has changed on the US-proposed peace plan for Ukraine. Zelensky and the Europeans are rejecting it while Trump is calling out the Ukrainian leader, telling him he better "get on the ball" and accept reality.
Not much has changed on the ground either, with battlefield trends pretty much being consistent stretching back many months. Moscow forces keep making gains in the east, major Ukrainian cities struggle to keep the power grid operating, and in return Ukraine keeps sending drones on Russian territory.
The latest drones were sent against the Russian capital itself, though this certainly isn't a first of the war. But it remains rare. Local media is reporting that three drones were destroyed by anti-air systems as they approached Moscow Tuesday evening.
The city's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced the intercepts on Telegram, but didn't disclose whether the attack resulted in any casualties or damage on the ground. Emergency crews were dispatched to the locations where the drones fell after being intercepted.
This is the fourth such Ukrainian drone attack targeting Moscow since November. It could be in 'answer' to Russian forces more heavily targeting the Ukrainian capital of late in missile and drone strikes, which have plunged whole neighborhoods into long periods of darkness.
Le Monde has observed of the current situation in many Ukrainian towns and cities, "While Russian attacks on Ukrainian power plants and electrical infrastructure have continued for three years, they tend to intensify as winter approaches, disrupting the daily lives of residents. Immersed in a darkness punctuated by the hum of generators, people try to maintain a semblance of normalcy."
As for the ground war in the east, Russia's military has been reporting more gains, in the wake of capturing the key city of Pokrovsk:
Russian forces took control of the villages of Kucherivka in Ukraine's northern Kharkiv region and Rivne in the eastern Donetsk region, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday.
Moscow carried out group strikes on Ukrainian transport infrastructure, fuel and energy facilities, military airfields and long-range drone complexes, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, President Trump in a freshly published Politico interview has said Russian forces have the clear upper-hand and so Zelensky should get serious about reviewing and accepting his peace deal.
"It would be nice if he would read it," Trump said of the US peace deal. "You know, a lot of people are dying. So it would be really good if he’d read it."
The number of Russians favouring peace talks is close to an all-time high at 65% (it was 66% in Aug) against 26% who prefer continued hostilities.
— Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin) December 9, 2025
The peace camp was steadily expanding since the start of the all-out war. The only time when the pro-war camp briefly prevailed was… pic.twitter.com/WGuatqgplX
Trump seemed to acknowledged this has long been a war of attrition and that no magical battlefield or weapons solutions will tilt things in favor of Kiev. He asserted that Russia has the "upper hand. And they always did. They’re much bigger. They’re much stronger." He described that while the Ukrainians have fought bravely, the reality remains that "At some point, size will win."
Zelensky has been huddling with the European leaders to come up with a counter-plan (which Putin is very unlikely to accept), and said Tuesday that the White House should expect "refined documents on peace" to be submitted soon.