Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps says Operation Vivaldi retook 51 km² near Lyman, captured 250+ Russian troops
Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps said Monday it completed Operation Vivaldi's third stage near Lyman in northern Donetsk Oblast, liberating Nove, Ridkodub, and Katerynivka and reclaiming 51 square kilometers. Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi claimed more than 250 Russian POWs and about 2,000 Russian personnel lost — Ukrainian military figures not independently verified in the cited reports.
AI-assisted · US Brief desk · Sources listed below
What happened
Biletskyi said Ukrainian forces liberated the villages of Nove, Ridkodub, and Katerynivka and restored full control over Karpivka and Novomykhailivka. The corps said the phase freed 51 square kilometers (about 20 square miles), bringing officially reported retaken territory since the operation began to 176 square kilometers (about 68 square miles).
Why it matters
Operation Vivaldi was made public only on Sep 15 after weeks of silence, with a second-phase update on Sep 20. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday he had been briefed on "significant" results on the Lyman axis under the operation, Kyiv Post reported. The sector matters because Russia still seeks full control of Donetsk Oblast; rare confirmed Ukrainian offensive gains contrast with weekend Russian strike tolls covered separately on US Brief.
What’s next
Watch for follow-on "fourth season" Vivaldi updates from the 3rd Army Corps, any General Staff confirmation with maps, prisoner-exchange talks, and whether Russian forces mount a counterattack to retake the Nove heights.
More context
Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps said Monday it had finished the third stage of Operation Vivaldi around Lyman in northern Donetsk Oblast, reclaiming more ground and taking hundreds of Russian prisoners, according to corps commander Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi. The update, carried by the Kyiv Independent, Interfax-Ukraine, Kyiv Post, and Ukrainska Pravda, is one of the clearest public Ukrainian claims of a multi-village offensive gain this month.
Prisoners and losses claimed: Biletskyi said more than 250 Russian soldiers were captured — including officers, pilots, and artillerymen — and that Russian forces lost about 2,000 personnel in the third stage. "The idea that 'Russians don't surrender' from movies in practice turned into entire units surrendering in full," he said, per the Kyiv Independent; he added that Ukraine hoped to exchange the prisoners for Ukrainians held by Russia. Those casualty and POW totals are Ukrainian military claims and were not independently verified in the cited reporting.
How the assault was framed: Biletskyi said the main objective was Nove, a height-controlling hub on the bridgehead. He said Russian forces were led to believe the main Ukrainian push was along the Shandryholove–Zelena Dolyna axis and burned reserves in counterattacks there while the real strike hit Nove. To breach strongpoints, the corps said it used modified Soviet-era BTR-60 armored personnel carriers converted into robotic "kamikaze" ground drones.
Uncertainty: Open-source maps and Russian milbloggers had described Ukrainian pressure near Lyman for months, but exact front-line control can lag or disagree with official statements. US Brief is not treating the 2,000-loss or 250-POW figures as confirmed body counts. Russian authorities had not issued a matching detailed acknowledgment in the English-language reports cited here.
4 listed sources
- Kyiv Independent (Francis Farrell), Sep 28, 2026: Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi liberates 3 more settlements, inflicts 2,000 Russian losses
- Interfax-Ukraine, Sep 28, 2026: 3rd Army Corps liberates 5 settlements in Vivaldi operation – Biletsky
- Kyiv Post, Sep 28, 2026: Ukraine Retakes 3 Settlements, Outfoxes Russian Forces in Lyman's Operation Vivaldi
- Ukrainska Pravda, Sep 28, 2026: Operation Vivaldi third stage — 2,000 Russian losses claimed, 250+ captured
References listed by US Brief; a source count is not a verification score.
Editorial sourcing notes
Territory, casualty, and prisoner figures, settlement names, deception account, and BTR-60 "kamikaze" ground-drone detail follow the 3rd Army Corps / Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi Sep 28 announcement as reported by the Kyiv Independent, Interfax-Ukraine, Kyiv Post, and Ukrainska Pravda. Those outlets present the numbers as Ukrainian military claims; US Brief has not independently verified losses, POWs, or map control. Prior Vivaldi phase dates (Sep 15 and Sep 20) and Zelenskyy's Sep 27 Lyman-axis comment also come from those reports.
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