Ukraine says Operation Vivaldi, using exploding APCs, is holding the line near Lyman

Centre · 1Ukraine's Third Army Corps commander, Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, said his troops converted Soviet BTR-60 armoured personnel carriers into robotic "kamikaze complexes" to break through Russian defences in the Lyman sector of Donetsk oblast. 1 Centre · 1Newsweek describes the vehicles as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices that Biletsky said were used to demolish Russia's strongest fortifications; he also said Russian soldiers surrendered in entire subunits. 1 Centre · 1The operation, code-named Vivaldi, ran over the summer and, according to Newsweek, has thwarted Russian attempts to capture the "Fortress Belt" of fortified cities that is critical to holding the Donbas. 1

Centre · 1Biletsky said Ukrainian troops feinted from Shandryholove toward Zelena Dolyna, drawing Russian reserves into counterattacks, while the real objective was Nove; he said 19 square miles were recaptured in the third phase and 67 square miles over the whole operation. 1 Centre · 1The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Ukrainian forces control both Nove and Shandryholove, with the closest Russian positions at least 10 miles from the latter and five miles from the former. 1 Centre · 1Analysts credit surprise, strict operational security and counter-drone operations that degraded Russian awareness; Major Maksym Zhorin said in September that a "protective drone" electronic-warfare system kept Ukrainian advances secret. 1

Centre · 1Russian military bloggers have not acknowledged the success of Operation Vivaldi and say Russian forces kept their positions and that Ukraine has not cut off the Russian salient north of Lyman; Ukrainian observer Yuriy Butusov said pro-Moscow channels pushed doctored footage, while other Russian sources criticised Moscow's defence ministry for not acknowledging the operation. Newsweek said it had contacted the Russian defence ministry for comment. 1 Left · 1Meduza, writing four days later, said both armies are on the offensive in different sectors and that the operations coincided with renewed Trump-mediated negotiations, bringing "loud public relations campaigns". 2 Left · 1Meduza said that Ukrainian officials claim to be in the third phase of Vivaldi, but open-source videos show troops are still successfully pushing Russian forces off their first line of defence; it said Russia's claim of "destroying encircled groupings" is unfounded because it has failed to encircle any major Ukrainian forces. 2

Left · 1Meduza said the underlying fight is unchanged: Russia is trying to break through to the Kramatorsk-Sloviansk urban area from several directions while Ukraine counterattacks, and that battle is of decisive importance for the war. 2 Left · 1Meduza noted that Vladimir Putin told the Valdai Discussion Club that Russia will take Donbas "much sooner" than Ukraine expects and that the offensive is "accelerating"; Meduza countered that Russia took Pokrovsk and Siversk by early 2026 and Kostiantynivka that summer but then failed to break into the cities defending Kramatorsk, and around Lyman lost much of the territory it captured the previous year. 2