UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Sep. 28  — Andrii Biletskyi, the Commander of the Third Army Corps, said that Ukrainian forces recaptured the settlements of Nove, Ridkodub, Katerynivka, Karpivka, and Novomykhailivka on the Lyman axis as part of the third phase of Vivaldi operation, the press service of the Third Corps said.

Biletskyi said that Ukrainian forces returned 51 square kilometers (20 square miles) of Ukrainian territory, killed and injured 2,000 Russian soldiers, and captured over 250 prisoners of war this time.

According to OSINT analysts from AMK Mapping, Ukrainian troops advanced in this area during May and June. They announced at least another three more updates to come.

On Sep. 15, the Ukrainian military reported that they had launched a counteroffensive in the Lyman axis in northern Donetsk oblast, calling this operation Vivaldi. In total, they regained control of 176 square kilometers (68 square miles) of territory.

According to Biletskyi, the Russians expected Shandryholove — a village that Ukrainian forces had taken earlier — to be the main target. But Ukrainian forces focused on Nove village, which was a key Russian hub in the area.

Biletskyi also noted that during the Ukrainian offensive, the corps used Soviet armored personnel carriers that had been converted into ground kamikaze drones.

Operation Vivaldi’s goal is to degrade the combat capabilities of Russian forces. The loss of Russian position on the Lyman axis reduced the threat of the city being encircled and eased pressure on Sloviansk, about 22 kilometers (13 miles) southeast of Lyman, as well as on Borova in the Kharkiv oblast, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the reportedly recaptured area.

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