Ukrainian military officials announced on Wednesday (October 14th) that recent counteroffensive operations have yielded results, with over 100 square kilometers of territory reclaimed from Russian forces in the past two weeks alone.
According to a report by Newsweek, Lieutenant General Andriy Biletskyi, commander of the Ukrainian Third Army Corps, confirmed that the Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive operation codenamed “Operation Vivaldi” north of Lyman since mid-September.
Since the beginning of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian forces have regained a total of 277 square kilometers of territory and 16 villages, including three villages and 101 square kilometers near Lyman in the Donetsk region in the recent two weeks.
Ukrainian military commanders pointed out that earlier this year, Russian forces breached Ukrainian defenses and advanced, posing a risk to Ukrainian positions and potentially providing a corridor for an attack on the strongholds of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the front lines near Lyman on September 30th and emphasized the significance of the counteroffensive for Ukrainian defense.
The operation compelled Russian forces to redeploy towards Lyman, thus weakening their forces on other fronts, as reported from Kyiv.
An analysis report published by The Conversation revealed that the “Operation Vivaldi” by the Ukrainian military began in May this year but was kept highly confidential until September.
The initial phase of the operation aimed to target Russian air defense systems, electronic warfare capabilities, artillery, and logistics, disrupting Russian drone operations and granting the Ukrainian forces a regional advantage in drone warfare.
In subsequent stages, Ukrainian forces utilized drones to strike Russian targets before advancing infantry units. Ground robots were tasked with supply transport, demining, and providing fire support, while armored vehicles pushed to widen breaches in enemy defenses after suppressing Russian drones and artillery.
The success of the Ukrainian counteroffensive is attributed to the integration and coordination of seasoned capabilities with new technologies, according to the analysis.
However, despite these gains, the analysis report from The Conversation highlights that the reclaimed territory by Ukraine remains relatively limited in the broader context of the conflict, with Russian forces continuing slow advances elsewhere.
Furthermore, it is anticipated that Russian forces may adjust tactics to undermine the Ukrainian advantage in drones and electronic warfare capabilities.
The Institute for the Study of War in Washington indicated in September that Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov’s claims of occupying over 250 square kilometers of land in the Sumy region were contradicted by open-source evidence, showing Russian territorial control or presence at 151.66 square kilometers in the area this year.
The institute suggested that the release of these numbers by Russia was aimed at diverting attention from the successful Ukrainian operation in clearing Russian salients north of Lyman.