Ukrainian forces liberate new settlements in northern Donetsk region
Photo: The Ukrainian Armed Forces have liberated new settlements in northern Donetsk region as part of Operation Vivaldi (Getty Images)
Ukrainian troops are continuing their offensive in the north of the Donetsk region as part of Operation Vivaldi. Over the past week, the Ukrainian Defense Forces have made further advances, including clearing and liberating populated areas, according to Petro Horbatenko, chief of staff and deputy commander of the Third Army Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Fighters from the corps and other units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces operating in the Lyman area are continuing their offensive as part of the first phase of Operation Vivaldi.
The Russian army's losses, in terms of those killed, wounded, and captured, are exceeding expectations.
"We've also continued our advance over the past week. Accordingly, we'll provide you with new details on the conduct of the operation and new results regarding its successes in the near future. We're continuing to move forward. The figure that was announced is just one number; it will increase over time," Horbatenko says.
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He notes that new data on successes and liberated settlements will be coming in, but not everything can be disclosed or discussed just yet.
"Russians in this sector are defeated and disorganized. They are trying to redeploy special forces units there to plug the breach, but they are simply being ground into mincemeat without achieving any success," adds the deputy commander.
The military official states that, in addition to the officially confirmed liberation of Serednie and the mopping-up operations in Korovii Yar, Novoselivka, Yarova, and Oleksandrivka, Ukrainian forces have also managed to clear Rai-Oleksandrivka and other settlements, which cannot yet be disclosed for tactical reasons.
"There are also other liberated villages, but we are not naming them because we cannot afford to let Russia's stupidity and self-deception work against us. Therefore, for now, we have to keep some things secret," he notes.
According to Horbatenko, Russian forces are trying to repel the offensive but are suffering even heavier casualties. In addition to infantry attacks, the Russians are shelling the units' rear areas in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions.
"The Russian tactics haven't changed much overall. These are simply human wave assaults, as well as massive strikes on rear areas, especially large settlements with a large local population, such as Izium, Balakliia, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk. Russia is carrying out missile and bomb strikes using aircraft and Shahed drones," he says.
Operation Vivaldi
The Third Army Corps has launched Operation Vivaldi, an offensive in the north of the Donetsk region. Reports have already emerged of several settlements being cleared.
Ukrainian forces drove the Russians out of the village of Serednie without suffering any casualties, completely clearing the settlement and taking it under their control.
In addition, the Ukrainian Defense Forces liberated an area larger than Zhytomyr. During the fighting, Ukrainian soldiers eliminated the camouflaged Russian troops and established a foothold for a further offensive in the region.
