Ukraine’s Third Army Corps says Operation Vivaldi combined infantry, drones, electronic warfare and ground robots to regain control of 125 square kilometers near Lyman while inflicting more than 3,000 Russian personnel losses, though the battlefield figures have not been independently verified.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces say they used an expanding arsenal of ground robots, aerial drones and electronic warfare during a previously secret offensive in northern Donetsk that has returned 125 square kilometers, or about 48 square miles, to Ukrainian control and inflicted more than 3,000 personnel losses on Russian forces.
The Third Army Corps disclosed the latest results of Operation Vivaldi after keeping much of the campaign out of public view while fighting continued around the Lyman sector.
The corps says 50 square kilometers, about 19 square miles, of the territory brought under Ukrainian control had been occupied by Russian forces and was subsequently liberated. The remainder included areas where Ukrainian troops cleared Russian infiltration positions and reestablished control. Its forces say they liberated Shandryholove and Derylove and established full control over Drobysheve during the operation’s second phase.
The Ukrainian claims, including territorial and personnel-loss figures, cannot be independently confirmed amid active fighting and the extensive use of drones that has created broad contested zones along portions of the front. Reuters previously noted the difficulty of independently verifying battlefield changes in the area.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the Lyman operation Sunday after receiving a battlefield report from Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi. Zelenskyy separately said Ukrainian forces had killed or wounded 10,660 Russian troops across all active fronts during the previous week. That figure covers the entire battlefield rather than Operation Vivaldi alone and also has not been independently verified.
The latest account of Operation Vivaldi said the Third Army Corps reported roughly 800 additional Russian personnel losses during the operation’s second phase, bringing its claimed total across the first two phases to more than 3,000.
The corps first publicly acknowledged Vivaldi on Sept. 15, when commander Brig. Gen. Andriy Biletskyi announced that Ukrainian forces were conducting an offensive north of Lyman following weeks of operational silence. Russia had been using small-unit infiltration tactics in the sector, while Ukrainian forces sought to clear penetrations, disrupt logistics and regain territory.
The first disclosed phase produced 85 square kilometers of Ukrainian gains, according to Biletskyi — 75 square kilometers cleared of Russian infiltration and another 10 square kilometers retaken from Russian control. The second phase expanded those gains to the 125-square-kilometer total now claimed by the corps.
The technological component of the offensive has drawn particular attention because Ukrainian forces say robots were deliberately placed ahead of soldiers during some of the most dangerous portions of the operation.
“During assault operations, UAVs and ground robotic systems always go ahead of the infantry,” Biletskyi said.
Near Shandryholove, unmanned ground systems cleared approximately 30 kilometers of routes in two nights, according to the Third Army Corps and reporting citing Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi.
The corps estimated that two companies of combat engineers would have required about a week to complete the same task. Ukrainian officials said no sappers were killed or wounded during the robot-led clearance operation.
The robotic systems are being used for more than removing mines.
According to the Third Army Corps, unmanned ground vehicles have also transported ammunition, food, construction supplies and other equipment, evacuated casualties and supported assault formations. The corps says its ground robots have completed more than 15,700 successful missions and transported about 3,300 metric tons of supplies during their broader deployment. It says some units now use robots to meet as much as 80% of infantry logistical needs and conduct approximately 90% of frontline evacuations. Those figures are Ukrainian military claims.
One of Vivaldi’s most unusual tactics involved transporting attack robots through the air.
The Third Army Corps said heavy bomber drones carried NC13 strike unmanned ground vehicles more than 10 kilometers, or about 6 miles, behind Russian lines before releasing them to attack targets in the Russian rear.
The corps described the maneuver in a Sept. 24 account of the operation as the first battlefield use of its kind.
The ground systems are known as “Gryphons.” The name honors Hryhorii Bach, an NC13 machine gunner whose call sign was “Gryphon” and who went missing during fighting near Andriivka in 2023, according to reporting on the air-dropped robot operation.
Cameras mounted on the ground vehicles recorded portions of their operations, according to the corps. Ukrainian officials said the systems were able to attack Russian positions in rear areas where troops were not expecting ground-based weapons to appear.
The NC13 unit developed the air-deployment method with Ukrainian unmanned aerial systems operators, and the tactic has reportedly been used repeatedly rather than as a single experiment. A commander with the call sign “Makar” said the procedure had become systematic during the previous four to five months.
Ukraine has increasingly invested in unmanned ground vehicles as commanders look for ways to remove soldiers from missions involving mines, exposed supply routes and heavily surveilled assault zones.
Reuters reported earlier in September that Ukrainian units are using ground robots for explosives delivery, logistics and casualty evacuation, with Biletskyi advocating a broader shift toward substituting machines for troops where technically possible. He has said he wants robotic systems eventually to perform tasks that would otherwise require a significant portion of frontline personnel.
Vivaldi has paired those ground systems with large numbers of aerial drones, artillery and electronic warfare.
The Third Army Corps says its artillery and unmanned systems attacked Russian command posts, communications facilities, crossings, logistics routes and reserve forces while Ukrainian air defenses and electronic warfare equipment attempted to suppress Russian surveillance and strike drones.
The corps has said the combination allowed assault troops to maneuver before Russian forces fully understood the operation’s scope. Ukraine says the campaign has weakened elements of three Russian formations operating in the sector: the 20th Combined Arms Army, 25th Combined Arms Army and 1st Guards Tank Army.
Biletskyi presented Vivaldi as an operation intended to unfold in multiple stages rather than a single assault.
“Our operation is called ‘Vivaldi,’ and Vivaldi, as we know, has four seasons. And this is only the first of them. […] There will be good news, but for now our actions require silence,” he said when the campaign was first disclosed.
The fighting remains intense beyond the territory claimed during Vivaldi.
Ukraine’s General Staff reported 221 combat engagements across the front on Sept. 26. The largest number of Russian attacks occurred in the Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk sectors, where Ukrainian officials recorded 26 assaults in each direction. Twelve attacks were reported in the Lyman sector, including Russian attempts to advance toward Novoselivka, Drobysheve, Lyman, Dibrova, Stavky and Cherneshchyna.
The General Staff said Russian forces carried out 90 airstrikes during the day, dropped 289 guided aerial bombs, launched 10,489 kamikaze drones and conducted 2,729 attacks on Ukrainian positions and communities. Those figures are Ukrainian military reports and have not been independently confirmed.
Zelenskyy said Sunday that the heaviest fighting was occurring in the Pokrovsk, Kostiantynivka and Lyman sectors, with Ukrainian forces also conducting operations in the Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Sumy regions.
“The destruction of the occupier continues, and the set objectives are being achieved,” Zelenskyy said, according to the Kyiv Post. He said Ukraine had video evidence supporting the 10,660 Russian killed-or-wounded figure he reported for the week, although outside organizations have not independently verified that tally.
The offensive is unfolding as Ukrainian intelligence says Russia may be preparing another large manpower expansion.
Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence and Foreign Intelligence Service said in August that the Russian General Staff had developed plans that could mobilize another 600,000 people — 300,000 during 2026 and another 300,000 in 2027. Ukrainian officials said the troops would primarily replenish forces fighting in Ukraine and help staff newly formed units.
Kyiv said Russia suffered approximately 240,000 personnel losses between January and July, including at least 140,000 it described as irrecoverable, while recruiting fewer than 232,000 contract troops over the same period. Those are Ukrainian intelligence estimates and have not been independently confirmed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied plans for another large-scale mobilization. Russia’s previous publicly announced mobilization came in September 2022, when Putin ordered approximately 300,000 reservists called up. The decision prompted protests and drove many draft-age men to leave Russia.
The latest battlefield developments also come amid continued Russian aerial attacks against Ukraine. Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russia had launched more than 2,200 attack drones, roughly 1,650 guided aerial bombs and at least 38 missiles during the previous week. He called on China, India and other major countries to take a stronger position against Moscow.
Operation Vivaldi remains underway, according to the Third Army Corps, which has indicated additional phases are planned. Ukraine’s latest claims suggest ground robots are moving beyond experimental logistics roles and becoming integrated into offensive operations, but the extent to which the technology contributed to the reported territorial gains and Russian losses cannot be independently determined while fighting continues.
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