Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi near Lyman was far larger than first reported. Newly released frontline maps from the Third Army Corps show the counteroffensive — initially presented as clearing around 75 square kilometres of Russian infiltration — actually secured roughly 420 square kilometres of Russian-controlled and infiltrated territory. The maps also reveal just how close Russia came to a major victory in the sector before Ukrainian forces struck back.
How deep Russia had penetrated
The maps, drawn up by the corps at the start of the operation, show Russian forces had concentrated troops in towns as far as Yarova and Oleksandrivka, with infiltration soldiers and small groups operating as deep as Sosnove and Brusivka. Those detachments were positioned to disrupt the logistics routes into Lyman — an approach that nearly handed Moscow a breakthrough it could have exploited against the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration.
Independent analysts back the picture of a large Ukrainian success. Konrad Muzyka of Rochan Consulting assessed that Russian forces lost control of roughly 240 square kilometres in the sector, and noted the most important effect of the counteroffensive was that it thwarted Russia's attempt to envelop Sloviansk-Kramatorsk from the north. OSINT analyst Clement Molin put the liberated area above 200 square kilometres, describing it as one of Ukraine's most important victories of 2026.
From 75 to 420 square kilometres
The operation was publicly confirmed for the first time on September 15, when Third Army Corps commander Andriy Biletsky announced it in a video address. At that point he said corps units had eliminated pockets of Russian infiltration across 75 square kilometres and deoccupied a further 10 square kilometres around Novoselivka, Oleksandrivka, Yarova and Korovii Yar — all while operating under information silence.
Biletsky also reported that Ukrainian drone units had severed Russian logistics, forcing Moscow's troops to relocate fuel and lubricant depots, dismantle a pipeline and shift their supply lines back into Russia's Voronezh region. He estimated Russian losses in the operation at around 1,500 personnel from the 20th and 25th armies, alongside more than 12,000 drones, hundreds of armoured vehicles, artillery pieces and other vehicles destroyed.
The 420-square-kilometre figure — roughly five times the initially announced area — comes from analysis of the corps' own start-of-operation maps, suggesting the first public releases significantly understated how much ground the offensive swept. The wider context supports the trend: the Institute for the Study of War has assessed that Ukrainian forces liberated at least 972.56 square kilometres and 60 settlements in 2026, while holding Russian forces to near-zero gains since March — a stark contrast with the Kremlin's inflated claims of advancing.
"Vivaldi has four seasons"
Biletsky cautioned against reading too much into the operation's ultimate goal, dismissing rumours that Ukrainian troops were aiming for the Chornyi Zherebets river as premature. "Our operation is called 'Vivaldi.' And Vivaldi, as everyone knows, has four seasons. This is only the first of them," he said, promising further official updates. The second phase is already under way, with Ukrainian forces retaking villages near Lyman and pressing the Russian troops who had spent months creeping toward the city through small infiltration groups.
Ukraine's revised picture of Vivaldi reframes the summer's fighting around Lyman. Russia was not merely contained — its northern pincer toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk was dismantled, and territory once quietly infiltrated is now back under Ukrainian control. If Biletsky's promise of further "seasons" holds, Moscow's position in the northern Donbas may deteriorate faster than its communiques admit.
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