Kyiv has reported further battlefield gains this week as the country’s counteroffensive in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region continues. Ukraine’s Operation Vivaldi has been underway for several months and has reportedly resulted in the liberation of sixteen Ukrainian settlements along with more than one hundred square miles of territory. This shift in the front line initiative is helping to highlight the Russian army’s mounting difficulties as Putin’s invasion force struggles to advance while suffering heavy losses.
Operation Vivaldi is particularly significant as it has thwarted Russian efforts to complete the capture of the Donbas region, a task that is widely seen as Putin’s minimal war aim in Ukraine. The Russian military had hoped to seize the fortress belt of cities that make up the remaining Ukrainian-held portion of the Donbas in the coming months via a large-scale encirclement. However, Ukraine’s counteroffensive has now effectively blunted the northern wing of this attempted pincer movement, reversing more than a year of slow but steady Russian gains. “The Kremlin’s plan to seize the Donbas region will not be implemented in the foreseeable future,” commented Andrii Biletskyi, who commands the Ukrainian units spearheading the ongoing offensive in the Donetsk region.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive has showcased the country’s growing mastery of drone warfare and continued ability to defeat Russia on the battlefield despite often being heavily outnumbered and outgunned. During Operation Vivaldi, Ukrainian forces used fleets of bomber drones to transport unmanned ground vehicles armed with machine guns or explosives deep into the Russian rear. These robotic systems were then used to attack unsuspecting Russian positions, causing chaos and setting the stage for Ukrainian advances.
The impact of Operation Vivaldi is also being felt in other sectors of the front, according to recent analysis by the Institute for the Study of War. Ukrainian advances have forced Russia to redeploy troops from sectors further north while also regrouping to the south of the fortress belt as the Kremlin scrambles to prevent Kyiv building on its current momentum. This is hampering Moscow’s offensive operations and widening the gap between battlefield realities and the Kremlin’s bold pronouncements of inevitable Russian victory.
Russia’s recent retreat in the Donbas region has proved personally embarrassing for Vladimir Putin himself. In early September, the Kremlin dictator boasted of sweeping gains in this sector of the front and announced the capture of Sviatohirsk. Days later, Ukrainian officials posted video footage from inside the city demonstrating that it remained far from the combat zone and was firmly in Ukrainian hands.
This represents a major setback for Russia. Kremlin officials have sought to pressure Ukraine into handing over the fortress belt without a fight and withdrawing voluntarily from the Donbas as a condition for the start of broader ceasefire negotiations. Meanwhile, Putin has repeatedly expressed confidence that the fall of the region is only a matter of time. The collapse of Russia’s encirclement plan will now force him to downgrade his expectations.
Source: Kanal13
