Ukraine's military conducted a surprise offensive in the eastern Donbas region using drone-deployed robotic systems that security experts say reversed over a year of Russian territorial gains.
"Operation Vivaldi," which began in May, involved Ukraine's Third Army Corps deploying large bomber drones and remote-controlled robots behind Russian lines around Lyman in northern Donetsk Oblast. Brigadier-General Andrii Biletskyi reported on Sept. 28 that the operation's third phase liberated 51 square kilometers, bringing total retaken territory to 176 square kilometers. He said the latest fighting inflicted over 2,000 Russian losses and resulted in over 250 Russian soldiers taken prisoner.
Patrick Bolder, a defense expert at the Hague Center for Strategic Studies, called the offensive a "big bloody nose" to Putin's goal of seizing Ukraine's Donbas region. Bolder said Ukrainian forces secured control of the air in the Lyman area, denying Russia drone use while enabling Ukrainian forces to deploy unmanned ground vehicles to attack Russian troops from behind without endangering their own personnel. "They put this together masterly," Bolder said.
Bolder added that Ukraine's improved defensive positions would make future Russian offensives more difficult, though he cautioned that "gaining the Donbas is very far away at the moment."
David Kirichenko, an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said the operation sends "a powerful message to Moscow and to Kyiv's partners that the highly innovative Ukrainian military remains capable of defeating Russia on the battlefield," while noting security experts do not view it as a decisive breakthrough.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the operation as "important in many ways" for Ukraine's defense and highlighted robotic systems as key. "One particularly promising area now is replacing our warriors with ground robotic systems wherever possible," Zelenskyy said on social media on Sept. 30.
Serhii Kuzan, chairman of the Kyiv-based Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, told CNBC that robotic deployment "has not only reduced the risks to personnel but has also changed the very logic of combat." Kuzan said the operation aimed to seize battlefield initiative and force Russia to abandon objectives set by its political leadership. Ukrainian intelligence reports that Russia's military now seeks to extend its deadline to capture the Donetsk region to March of next year, with the Russian army suffering 70-80 percent of its casualties on the main thrust directions of Kostiantynivka, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.