Ukraine confirms counteroffensive near Lyman, says first phase retook 75 square kilometers

Ukrainian troops eliminated areas of Russian infiltration and cleared the settlements of Novoselivka, Oleksandrivka and Yarova, as well as the outskirts of Korovyi Yar, Biletskyi said. Ukrainian forces also retook and established control over the village of Serednie.

The operation, dubbed “Vivaldi,” dealt a heavy blow to Russia’s 20th and 25th armies, according to Biletskyi. He said Russian forces had lost around 1,500 troops, more than 12,000 drones and hundreds of armored vehicles, artillery systems and other vehicles.

The figures could not be independently verified.

Biletskyi said the operation was named after Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and suggested that the gains announced so far represented only its first stage.

“There is a lot of information in open sources right now that the ultimate goal of the operation is to reach the Chornyi Zherebets River. But our operation is called Vivaldi, and Vivaldi, as we know, has four seasons. And this is only the first one,” he said.

“There will be good news, but right now our actions require silence.”

Reports of Ukrainian advances north of Lyman had circulated among OSINT analysts and military bloggers for several days before Biletskyi’s confirmation.

French military analyst Clément Molin said last week that Ukrainian forces had eliminated a Russian salient north of Lyman that had served as a staging ground for a potential Russian advance toward Lyman, Izium and Sloviansk. He estimated that Ukraine had retaken more than 200 square kilometers (77 square miles) during counteroffensive operations conducted over several months.

Ukrainian battlefield monitoring group DeepState on Sept. 15 also reported that Ukrainian forces had retaken Serednie and pushed Russian troops back near Shandryholove.