Operation Vivaldi: Ukrainian Forces Liberate 2 More Settlements in Lyman Sector

During the second phase of Operation Vivaldi in the Lyman sector of the Donetsk region, Ukraine’s Defense Forces liberated the Shandryholove and Derylove settlements and took full control of Drobysheve.

Third Army Corps Commander Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi reported this.

Overall, the 3rd Army Corps and attached units have already returned 125 square kilometers of territory to Ukrainian control, including 50 square kilometers of territory that had been deoccupied, 40 square kilometers of which were liberated during the second phase of the offensive.

The offensive is being carried out by units of the 60th and 66th Separate Mechanized Brigades and the 125th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade; a battalion tactical group of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade; the 3rd Separate Reconnaissance and 25th Separate Anti-Tank Battalions of the 3rd Army Corps; the 21st Separate KRAKEN Unmanned Systems Regiment; the 85th Tactical Group of the 8th Separate SOF Regiment; the Artan active operations unit of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence; and the 10th Mobile Border Detachment Dozor of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. They are opposed by units from three Russian armies — the 1st Guards Tank Army and the 20th and 25th Combined Arms Armies.

Biletskyi noted that during the second phase of Operation Vivaldi, Ukraine’s Defense Forces destroyed more than 800 enemy servicemen. Including the wounded and captured, the occupiers’ total losses amounted to more than 3,000 personnel.

General Andrii Biletskyi said the 3rd Army Corps was the first in the world to deploy unmanned ground vehicles by air.

“Our heavy bombers deliver kamikaze UGVs more than 10 kilometers behind enemy lines,” he said.

Rocket and artillery strikes and drone strikes against enemy command posts, logistics, crossings and reserves played a critical role in the success of the operation.

Representatives of the 3rd Army Corps previously shared with Militarnyi that during Operation Vivaldi, the corps’ unmanned systems units carried out 36,000 strike missions targeting the logistics of Russian invading forces.

The destruction of the logistics network took place in two stages: first, strike drones isolated an area extending up to 50 kilometers from the line of contact, after which the strike zone was expanded to 120 kilometers.

Systematic strikes on field fuel and lubricant depots in the Luhansk region forced the enemy to shut down a pipeline used to supply fuel from Russia. As a result, the enemy shifted supplies to the Voronezh region, forcing fuel trucks to cross into Ukraine. Regular strikes on ammunition depots, communications nodes, command posts, and vehicles increased the equipment evacuation distance for enemy units by approximately 250 kilometers.

Air defense and electronic warfare units also played a key role in the operation’s success, effectively suppressing enemy UAVs in the air.

As a result, the enemy could not detect Ukrainian assault groups in time or identify the operation’s objectives.