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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The Defense Forces pushed the occupiers back on a key sector of the eastern front and took more than 250 Russian soldiers prisoner.
This success was the third stage of Operation "Vivaldi" — a carefully planned campaign to seize the initiative in Donetsk region, Politico reports.
"The Russians surrendered as entire units, along with officers, pilots, and artillerymen," said General Andriy Biletsky, commander of the 3-th army corps.
The outlet added that during the most recent phase Ukrainian forces liberated 51 sq. km of territory. Thus, the total area of land returned to Ukrainian control as part of Operation "Vivaldi" reached 176 sq. km.
"This operation... has significance beyond the battlefield: Kyiv views such counterstrikes as proof for its allies — and, in particular, for the Trump administration — that the slow but steady advance of Russian forces in Donetsk region is not inevitable, and... Putin cannot simply wait for Ukrainian defenses and Western resolve to collapse," the outlet wrote.
The report notes that Operation "Vivaldi" employed integrated use of drones, armored vehicles, artillery, and infantry against occupiers who were attempting to encircle and capture Lyman — a key node in the 'belt of fortresses' that has held back the Russian offensive for years.
The outlet emphasized that special attention during the operation was paid to using unmanned systems to preserve personnel: from dropping miniature ground robots behind Russian positions to retrofitting Soviet BTR-60 armored personnel carriers into kamikaze robots, packed with explosives and directed at Russian fortifications.
Deception also played an important role. According to Biletsky, the 3-th corps misled the occupiers, making them believe the main Ukrainian strike would be toward Shandryholove and Zeleny Dolyna. That forced the Russians to commit reserves to counterattacks in that sector, while Ukraine struck toward Novyi:
"This caused them to senselessly waste their reserves on counterattacks in that very sector. The Russians missed the real strike."
The outlet also noted that while the Ukrainian advance has been independently confirmed by analysts tracking the frontline, the Kremlin insists it has suffered no setbacks.
Specifically, the Russian Ministry of Defense called Ukraine's announced success near Lyman a "smoke screen" for Kyiv's "Western handlers," claiming that only a failed attempt by "small enemy assault groups" is occurring in the northern part of Donetsk region.
Operation "Vivaldi": news
On 27 September, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported significant achievements by the Defense Forces on the Lyman front in Donetsk region as part of Operation "Vivaldi," and announced an airborne troops grouping as part of another active defense operation.
And on 28 September it became known that the Defense Forces, continuing Operation "Vivaldi," liberated three more settlements on the Lyman front.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Пропустили основний удар: Politico розповіло про розгром військ РФ під Лиманом". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: UNIAN.
