Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the country’s military had planned to initiate Operation Vivaldi a year ago but deemed it insufficiently prepared. Following a strategic delay, the operation has yielded promising results thus far. Zelensky emphasized that during the offensive, Ukrainian forces suffered significantly fewer casualties compared to Russian troops.
He reported a troubling increase in Russian fatalities and injuries in recent months. Earlier in the year, the Russian army was losing approximately 30,000 to 32,000 personnel monthly, with around 21,000 to 22,000 dead and the rest severely wounded. Currently, those figures have escalated to around 42,000 monthly losses.
“Operation Vivaldi is highly successful, and it is not yet complete,” he stated.
Context
- On September 5, Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, commander of the 3rd Army Corps, publicly confirmed the offensive operation in northern Donetsk Oblast, named Operation Vivaldi. At that time, Ukrainian forces had reportedly cleared 75 square kilometers and liberated an additional 10 square kilometers.
- Biletsky announced the conclusion of the third stage of the operation on September 28, during which populated areas in Donetsk Oblast north of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk were freed, near the administrative border with Kharkiv Oblast.
- The U.S. Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that the counteroffensive by the 3rd Army Corps disrupted Russia’s plans to encircle Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
- The operation involved the 60th and 125th Mechanized Brigades, 3rd Special Purpose Brigade, and 25th Air Assault Brigade, along with other attached units, according to the 3rd Army Corps.
