2026-09-25 20:18:00Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Ukraine claims to have recently recaptured about 125 square kilometers of territory near the town of Lyman, in the eastern Donetsk region, as part of an operation codenamed "Vivaldi."

Ukrainian Colonel Rodion Kudryashov, deputy commander of the Third Army Corps, says that the advance did not begin with the movement of troops to the front line, but much earlier, with the change in the mode of command.

“After the Third Army Corps was formed, we changed the command system of the units subordinate to it,” Kudryashov wrote.

According to him, some brigades had arrived after heavy fighting, with losses, shortages in personnel and, above all, with the trust in their leaders damaged.

The change aimed to move away from the more rigid model inherited from the Soviet era and towards a more flexible structure, where decisions are made more quickly.

"An army where every decision takes hours to pass up and down the chain of command loses to an army that makes the same journey in minutes," Kudryashov argued.

Before advancing, the Third Corps had to halt the Russian advance.

Russian forces were using small groups to infiltrate Ukrainian positions, threatening logistics and gradually weakening the defensive line.

By June, according to Kudryashov, Ukrainian troops had stabilized the front from Borova to Lyman and eliminated areas of Russian infiltration.

"The first phase of 'Vivaldi' was not an advancement at all. It was the creation of the conditions that made the advancement possible," he said.

Then, Ukrainian unmanned systems units began striking Russian logistics, including a pipeline and warehouses, forcing opposing forces to change fuel supply routes.

The operation involved corps brigades, reconnaissance and drone units, as well as special operations forces, military intelligence and border service.

Even the Russian channel Rybar, linked to the Kremlin, has acknowledged that Ukraine has regained some positions in this sector during counterattacks launched in August, although it has presented a more limited assessment of their impact on Russian forces.

Kudryashov warns that the result remains temporary and that Russia is also adapting.

“Winning a battle doesn’t mean winning the war,” he said. “The enemy is learning too. It changes tactics, looks for weak spots and tries to expand what works.”


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