Operation Vivaldi Phase 4 Finalized Russia's Complete Lyman Defeat

Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi ended as quietly as it began, with the capture of the key, former Russian logistics hub, of Kolodiazi. Like many of the areas retaken by the Ukrainians' 3rd Corps, the village was largely deserted, underscoring the fact that many of the Russians' initial, highly touted 'victories' in this sector were really empty areas of little strategic importance.

The larger lesson of the Vivaldi operation is that Ukraine's strict operational security, thorough planning and precise execution of their battle plan led to a stinging defeat of Russian forces which had hoped to use this territory as a springboard for further Donbas gains. That hope is now in tatters. JL

Yuri Zoria reports in the Euromaidan Press:

During the fourth and final phase of Operation Vivaldi. Ukrainian infantry encircled and retook the village of Kolodiazi north of Lyman without getting drawn into street fighting. The Ist Mechanized drone battalion killed or wounded about 500 Russian troops during the fourth phase and struck "more than two hundred pieces of equipment: Grad and Uragan rocket launchers, armored vehicles, tanks, armored combat vehicles. Most of all motorbikes and quad bikes, there the count runs into the hundreds. This is our enemy’s main logistics tool.” Vivaldi’s four phases retook 277 km² and 16 settlements, and Russian forces suffered more than ten times more casualties than Ukrainians forces.

Ukrainian infantry encircled and retook the village of Kolodiazi north of Lyman without getting drawn into street fighting, while a drone battalion kept the sky above them shut, the battalion’s chief of staff told Suspilne on 18 October. The village fell during the fourth and final phase of Operation Vivaldi, Ukraine’s counteroffensive in northern Donetsk Oblast.

For years now, Russia has aimed to seize Lyman and cross the Siverskyi Donets River. It needs this area to encircle Ukraine’s fortress belt of Donetsk Oblast cities from the northwest, ISW assesses. Vivaldi’s four phases retook 277 km² and 16 settlements on that approach, and a veteran of the operation has said Ukraine’s assault troops suffered more than ten times fewer casualties than Russian forces doing it.

Drones over the infantry

The 60th Mechanized Brigade fought in all four phases of Vivaldi and took Kolodiazi in the last one, said the chief of staff of the brigade’s Fatum unmanned systems battalion, callsign Krash.

“Our task, as an unmanned systems battalion, was to escort and ‘close’ the air in front of our infantry to make it impossible for the enemy to hit it. To suppress all the firing assets possible,” he said. 

The brigade’s 3rd Mechanized Battalion, the main striking force, encircled Kolodiazi and retook it without getting drawn into street fighting, Krash said. The 1st Mechanized Battalion kept Russian reinforcements out of the area, while drone crews suppressed artillery, hit supply runs, and worked against Russian drone operators. 

500 troops and 200-plus vehicles

The drone battalion killed or wounded about 500 Russian troops during the fourth phase and struck Russian armored vehicles, trucks, and motorbikes, its chief of staff said.

“More than two hundred pieces of various equipment: Grad and Uragan multiple rocket launchers, various armored vehicles, tanks, armored combat vehicles. Most of all motorbikes and quad bikes, there the count runs into the hundreds. This is our enemy’s main logistics tool,” he said.

Lyman sector now. Map: ISW

Ghost villages

The villages retaken in northern Donetsk Oblast are nearly empty of civilians, Krash said. 

“It’s very typical for de-occupied settlements: these are ghost towns. You can see right away where the occupier stepped. All the settlements are under the control of the Third Army Corps, our forces stand there and prevent enemy infiltration. But civilian life in these towns is either absent or very scarce,” he said.

Third Army Corps commander Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi reported Kolodiazi’s liberation, along with Zelena Dolyna and Lypove, when he summed up Vivaldi’s fourth phase, which secured 101 km².