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Ukraine's Third Army Corps, together with its attached units, has retaken another 101 square kilometers during the fourth stage of Operation Vivaldi on the Lyman sector in Donetsk Oblast, the corps announced on Oct. 14.
Ukraine liberated the villages of Zelena Dolyna, Lypove, and Kolodiazi, while Russia lost about 3,000 of its soldiers in the fourth stage of the operation, the corps reported on Telegram.
"The enemy was unable to cut the key logistics artery of our group in the Donbas. We thwarted the offensive of the group 'Zapad' and forced it to transfer part of the units of the 1st Tank Army, which weakened the pressure on Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi," corps commander Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi said.
In total, Operation Vivaldi saw the liberation and return of 16 settlements and 277 square kilometers (106 square miles) to Ukraine, the corps said. "Four seasons of 'Vivaldi' are over, but the music continues."
On Sept. 15, Biletskyi confirmed that Ukrainian forces under the command of the 3rd Army Corps were conducting a series of counterattacks north of the front-line city of Lyman in Donetsk Oblast.
The operation dealt "a heavy blow to the combat capabilities of Russia's 20th and 25th Combined Arms Armies," Biletskyi said then, adding that Ukrainian drone strikes had pushed Russian supply hubs across the state border.
The fight for the heart of the so-called Donbas fortress belt — Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Kostiantynivka — is crucial going into the winter months, when Russia will look to maximize its foothold in urban areas to prepare for a 2027 offensive campaign.