Russia's Rear Area Drone Operators Were Attacked By Armored Ukrainian Assaults

New details about Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi continue to come to light. In the latest, the 3rd Corps has revealed that Ukrainian troops in armored vehicles advanced almost five kilometers behind Russian lines to eliminate Russian drone crews and bases.

The Ukrainian armored units were able to do this because they received special training, their vehicles were upgraded and they were provided effective overwatch support from drone units. JL

Ryder Blackthorn reports in Frontline Signal:

New details reveal another part of Ukraine’s Operation Vivaldi: sending armored vehicles through Russian lines to reach the drone operators working behind them. In one assault, four armored vehicles crossed the frontline and delivered Ukrainian infantry near positions used by Russian drone crews. One vehicle was struck but remained operational and withdrew under its own power. In a separate assault, Ukrainian armor advanced 4.5 kilometers behind Russian lines. Infantry dismounted and attacked positions occupied by drone operators.  Armored vehicles can no longer be treated as reserves rushed forward whenever Russian forces break through. Their movement must be planned around the threats they’re likely to encounter. Infantry and vehicle crews trained separately, armored vehicles received additional equipment, and supporting units were coordinated to protect their movement.

Russians Suffer War Record Day Of Losses, Despite Ukraine's Starlink Block

Russian losses for October are on track to exceed 50,000 for the second month in a row. 

That is the monthly goal the Ukrainians set at the beginning of the year because even with new mobilization and recruitment of Central Asians, Africans and South Americans, would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the Kremlin to replace. JL

Stefan Korshak reports in the Kyiv Post:

Kremlin troops suffered record-breaking single-day losses for the entire Russo-Ukrainian War on Thursday. During the 24-hour period between Oct. 21-22, Russian forces suffered at least 2,250 men killed or seriously wounded in combat. The numbers broke the previous wartime record of 2,200 set in December 2024. Ukraine's units' say estimates of Russian losses are accurate because engagements and images of dead and wounded Russian soldiers are recorded in real time by drones. The record Kremlin losses were the result of heavy Russian infantry attacks in Donetsk aiming at Dobropilliya.

At Kupiansk, Ukrainians Advance 15 KM Underground, To Attack Russians' Rear

Learning from previous Russian attempts to use underground gas lines to attack, Ukraine's 2nd (Khartia) Corps launched an assault behind Russian defenses o the Kupiansk front. They advanced 15 kilometers underground after a route was identified and scouted - and, unlike the Russians' efforts - training was conducted and technological solutions were created for life support and communications. 

The Ukrainian attack inflicted over 100 casualties on the Russians and 30 Kremlin troops were taken prisoner. JL

Ukrinform reports:

Ukrainian forces have advanced more than 15 kilometers through underground utility routes into the rear of Russian forces in the Kupiansk sector of the front. Ukraine’s 2nd (Khartiia) Corps combined an underground offensive with operations on the surface and drone strikes. Troops were trained to operate in confined spaces, an underground route was prepared, and in-house technological solutions were used for communications, navigation and life support. Underground and surface operations were coordinated with the Achilles Brigade for drone strikes. The Russians suffered over 100 casualties plus 30 captured.

It's Time To Take Starlink Away From Elon Musk

The US embraces capitalism and the market economy which supports it. But, as is stated below, it is first and foremost a democracy. No private individual has a right to make decisions that affect the nation's interest - and especially not decisions that go against its citizens' votes, preferences and well-being. Russia has been the US' prime adversary for over a century and its behavior shows no sign of changing.

Starlink and, for that matter, most of Musk's businesses. owe their continued existence to US government contracts and funding. It is time for that support to end. "Capitalism is not excuse for treason." JL

Paul Krugman reports in his substack:

Musk, according to the Wall Street Journal, took it upon himself to pull the plug on Ukraine's Starlink access. No private individual should, or indeed have the capability to, make national security policy. Slowing down Starlink was a U.S. intervention in a foreign conflict. It helped Russia and hobbled Ukraine, during a very critical time in this war. It also helped Russia at a time when Putin is increasingly emboldened to menace Europe. To make this economy work, we need to respect property rights. But we are, first and foremost, a democracy. And in a democracy, the rights of private property don’t and never have included the right to act against the nation’s interest — where democratically elected representatives of the people, not business owners, decide what is in the nation’s interest. Capitalism is not an excuse for treason.

'Several Thousand' Russian Aerial Targets Destroyed By Ukraine During Vivaldi

The complexity of the factors that went into Operation Vivaldi's success continues to surprise and impress. 

Among the unheralded efforts that contributed to this was the role of anti-drone interceptor teams which destroyed thousands of Russian recon and FPV drones. Without their elimination, it is unlikely that the Ukrainian infantry and armor would have been able to achieve positive outcomes on the scale that they did. JL

Zoriana Kotola reports in Euromaidan Press:

An interceptor battalion of the 1030th Anti-Aircraft Missile-Artillery Regiment in Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps destroyed several thousand Russian aerial targets during Operation Vivaldi. Russian forces deployed large numbers of Zala, Orlan, Supercam, Merlin, and Knyaz Veshchiy Oleg reconnaissance drones to locate Ukrainian positions after the corps began advancing. The regiment mainly uses conventional air-defense systems against these targets: self-propelled anti-aircraft systems, surface-to-air missile systems, and portable surface-to-air missile systems. The battalion’s work deprived Russian forces of the ability to strike Ukrainian troops and track their movements.

Ukraine's Kill Zone Is AI's Pioneering Battlefield Test Ground For War

AI is already being used, not just in planning and targeting, but in providing options and, in the not too distant future, for predicting enemy actions and the probability of various tactics' success in stopping them. 

The gray area kill zones established across most of the front is where these systems are being tested and honed. Ukraine has an extinction-level impetus to deploy and improve them. The Russians attempting to attack now are its unknowing guinea pigs. JL

 
Jillian Melchior reports in the Wall Street Journal:

Ukraine is pioneering wartime AI, tapping AI to analyze data and automate weapons. Ukraine collects incomprehensible amounts of battlefield information. A single brigade can collect the equivalent of 10 months of video every day, and nationwide the Ukrainian-developed battlefield-management system Delta takes in quadrillions of bytes daily. Agentic AI can analyze data and perform tasks that used to require a staff or several officers. It has tools to let tactical-level units work with sensitive data in the battlefield on a laptop without an internet connection. It will help plan operations, providing commanders options for how to carry out a mission as well as each suggestion’s probability of success. A future stage involves AI-enabled prediction, forecasting enemy actions.  Autonomous drones will expand the kill zone, while AI analysis will accelerate strikes within it. “We can’t avoid using AI. The highest risk in Ukraine is, don’t take the risk.”

Ukraine's Dobropillia Kill Zone Devastates Attempted Russian Attacks

The problem facing Russian forces is that they have been here before. In fact, they've never really left. Which means their tactics, behavior and attack routes are well known. 

The result is that Ukrainian ambushes of attempted Russian assaults have grown in accuracy and lethality, meaning that Russian successes remain...elusive. JL

RFU News reports:

Russian  forces attempting to break through toward Dobropillia are walking into an increasingly devastating Ukrainian kill zone. Despite months of fighting, Russian troops have failed to establish secure control. Russian assault groups advance along two narrow routes extending from Rodynske, offering limited concealment. Much of the landscape consists of exposed fields, and that is where Ukrainian drone operators have established ambushes. Ukrainian recon drones monitor Russian movement, while FPV operators wait. During September alone, Ukraine’s Azov Corps, reported killing 361 Russian soldiers and wounding another 229 along these approaches. Repeated Russian attempts to use the same route have reportedly left dozens of bodies.