420 km² liberated as the true size of Ukrainian advances becomes clear

Today, the most significant updates are coming from the Liman direction.

Here, the massive Ukrainian counteroffensive operation codenamed Vivaldi has proved to be far larger than anyone had imagined. Newly released frontline maps used by the Third Army Corps at the start of the operation show the true extent to which Russian forces had been infiltrating. Notably, these maps show how Russian forces had amassed forces in towns as far as Yarova and Oleksandrivka, with singular infiltration soldiers and groups engaged as deep as Sosnove and Brusivka, essentially allowing Russians to disrupt all the logistics routes into Liman, although singular infiltration groups lack the ability to cut these off completely.

This shows how the Ukrainian operation Vivaldi secured far more territory than initially thought, liberating approximately four hundred twenty square kilometers of Russian controlled and infiltrated territory. However, it also underscores how badly the Russian forces responsible for the Liman offensive had messed up, being so close to gaining a massive victory for Russia.

It’s interesting to note that Ukraine’s operation Vivaldi in actuality began earlier this spring, as Ukrainians began collapsing the Russian offensive under its own weight. The Russian salient across the Zherebets River extended over twenty-seven kilometers without any hardened crossing point or bridge intact across it.

With Ukrainian forces using Liman as an operating base, they were able to maintain both physical and fire control over the one road that would allow Russians to link up their salient with the rest of the Russian supply network logistically. However, Russian commanders seemed to prioritize continuing deep infiltrations to outflank Liman, despite the obvious logistical vulnerabilities, falling victim to the false frontline reports that infiltrated settlements had been captured completely. Ukrainians took extensive advantage of this Russian weak point. FPV kamikaze and bomber drones continuously struck Russian crossing points, and smaller ATV and motorbike units trying to cross over makeshift pontoon bridges rarely made it across alive.

This significantly weakened the overall position that the Russian offensive was in, preventing further advances, and giving Ukrainians the breathing room they needed to organize the next phase of operation Vivaldi. By the start of summer, the weakened Russian posture allowed concentrated Ukrainian counterattacks on the flanks to choke out Russian supply lines in the salient even further. Ukrainian attacks built on one another significantly, progressively securing more tactically important positions that enabled follow-up attacks to be conducted successfully as well. Ukrainians extensively deployed ground drones to reinforce their assaults.

Smaller ground drones were used as high-explosive kamikazes, driving into underground Russian positions and blowing them up from the inside. Larger ground drones were mounted with machine guns or carried supplies for the advancing soldiers, providing lifelines and critical suppressing fire necessary to maintain the advanced positions. These counterattacks culminated most recently with Ukrainians securing the town of Nove, and pincering the Russian salient at several points along its entire length. This created a series of smaller pockets, which by the end of the summer concerto, are all but destroyed completely.

Overall, as the summer draws to a close, the Russian northern salient has been completely dismantled as well. False Russian reporting on the successful capturing of settlements they could barely control fueled the repeated orders to continue their advance, despite being horribly overstretched. Ukrainians have shown excellent ability to exploit this Russian disconnect with the reality on the ground, and worsen the situation for Russians time and time again. The commander of Ukraine’s third army corps overseeing the offensive accentuated that just as Vivaldi composed his four seasons, the Ukrainian operation that shares his name is only half completed as well. Ukrainians are currently pushing toward the Zherebets River and threatening to cross it in force, as the official start of the fall season will soon reveal the next phase of Ukraine’s counteroffensive.