The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have reclaimed 51 square kilometers (nearly 20 square miles) of territory and captured more than 250 Russian soldiers during the third stage of Operation Vivaldi in the Lyman direction of the Donetsk region, according to Andriy Biletsky, commander of Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps.
In a video address, Biletsky said Ukrainian forces had restored full control over Karpivka and Novomykhailivka and completely liberated Ridkodub and Katerynivka. He also said Ukrainian troops had captured Nove, a key settlement on the bridgehead.
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“This stage was a turning point for the entire operation,” Biletsky said.
“We have reclaimed another 51 square kilometers (19.7 square miles) of Ukrainian land, bringing the total reclaimed since the start of the offensive operations to 176 square kilometers (68 square miles),” he added.
According to the commander, control of the high ground around Nove was critical to maintaining the initiative in the area.
Ukrainian forces used converted Soviet BTR armored personnel carriers as ground-based kamikaze robotic systems to breach Russian strongpoints, he said.
Biletsky claimed that Russian personnel losses exceeded 2,000 troops during the third stage of the operation.
He also reported that more than 250 Russian soldiers had been taken prisoner, including officers, pilots and artillerymen. Biletsky said the prisoners could eventually be exchanged for Ukrainian soldiers held captive by Russia.
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“The cinematic ‘Russians don’t surrender’ turned into the reality of entire units surrendering en masse,” he said.
Deception helped Ukrainian advance
Biletsky said Ukrainian forces relied heavily on deceptive maneuvers to conceal the direction of their main assault.
According to him, Russian forces were led to believe that Ukraine’s main offensive would target the Shandryholove-Zelena Dolyna area. This prompted Russian troops to commit reserves to repeated counterattacks there, allowing Ukrainian forces to concentrate their main effort elsewhere.
“The enemy was caught off guard by the main thrust aimed at capturing Nove,” Biletsky said.
He credited units of the 3rd Assault Brigade with playing a key role in the assault on the settlement, praising their offensive capabilities and professionalism.
Fighters from the 3rd Border Guard Detachment, meanwhile, regained full control of Ridkodub and quickly established defensive positions along the newly captured lines, according to Biletsky.
The commander described the third stage as a decisive phase of Operation Vivaldi, which he said had fundamentally changed the situation on the bridgehead.
“The Vivaldi music plays on,” Biletsky said at the conclusion of his address.
Vivaldi advances come as Lyman becomes a key battleground in Donetsk
The 3rd Army Corps publicly announced Operation Vivaldi on Sept. 15, after weeks of strict information silence.
Its stated aims include pushing back Russian forces, dismantling their infiltration tactics and disrupting their supply lines.
During the first phase, Ukrainian forces cleared Russian infiltration pockets around Novoselivka, Yarova, Koroviahyi Yar and Oleksandrivka and liberated the village of Serednie, which Biletsky described as a “shaping, preparatory phase.”
Biletsky had hinted that more was yet to come. “Vivaldi, as everyone knows, has four seasons. This is the first of them,” he said.
On Sept. 20, Ukrainian Defense Forces announced the results of the second phase, saying they had liberated Shandryholove and Derylove and established full control over Drobysheve. Across the first two phases, the corps said it had reclaimed 125 square kilometers (48 square miles) of territory.
Russian forces reportedly lost around 800 soldiers during the second phase and more than 3,000 across the first two phases combined.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Ukrainian forces had achieved significant battlefield results in the Lyman axis under this operation.
In a Telegram statement published on Sept. 27, Zelensky said he had received a report from AFU Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapaty. He also pointed to results achieved by the Air Assault Forces grouping in another active defense operation, without providing further details.
The Donetsk region battlefield remains particularly important as Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to seize the remaining Ukrainian-controlled parts of the Donbas, comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Kremlin has long demanded full control of the regions as a condition for a potential settlement.
Ukraine rejects giving up its territory and sovereignty as a precondition for peace and has repeatedly called on Russia to agree to an unconditional ceasefire.
According to Zelensky’s latest statement, the most intense fighting is currently taking place along the Pokrovsk, Kostyantynivka and Lyman axes, while Ukrainian forces are also conducting combat operations in Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Sumy regions.