Biletskyi: Ukraine defeats Russian pincer, disrupts Donbas encirclement plan
Read NV on Google
Footage from Operation Vivaldi near the village of Korovii Yar (Photo: Third Army Corps)
The Operation
Vivaldi counteroffensive in northern Donetsk Oblast is continuing, and
Ukraine can “expect good news,” while Ukrainian forces have already defeated
one of Russia’s pincers in the area and disrupted Moscow’s plan to encircle the
Donbas fortress cities, Third Army Corps Commander Andrii Biletskyi said on the
national telethon, discussing the operation’s objectives, progress and
prospects.
“The Russians had a plan in the Donetsk sector — to envelop
the so-called fortress cities [of Donbas] from the north and south. From the
south, the envelopment was to go through Dobropillia, and from the north
through this salient, which is now being cut off, toward Sviatohirsk and then
on to Barvinkove, where these two pincers of the Russian army — the Dobropillia
pincer from the south and the Sviatohirsk pincer from the north — were supposed
to close,” Biletskyi explained.
He recalled that in the Dobropillia sector, “the
infiltration was stopped last year. The situation there is again quite
difficult, but under control.”
“The northern pincer has effectively been defeated and
destroyed,” Biletskyi stressed. The Third Corps commander added that it is
“critically important” for the Defense Forces that Russian troops “do not have
the capability to resume this offensive.” That is why, he said, disrupting
Russian rear areas and logistics is particularly important to the operation.
Biletskyi said the failure of Russia’s plan to envelop the
fortress cities from northern Donetsk Oblast means Russian forces “will have to
assault the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka-Kostiantynivka urban areas
head-on.”
“Assaulting these cities head-on is far more painful and
costly for them than trying to envelop them and effectively — if they had
managed to do so — take them without a fight. That is why logistics is
important for us,” the Third Corps commander said.
Asked about the objective of Operation Vivaldi, Biletskyi
said the strategic task of defending Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts means “we are
not fighting simply for tens, hundreds or thousands of kilometers.”
“We are fighting for advantageous defensive lines, and this
operation is intended to bring Ukrainian forces to those advantageous defensive
lines,” he added.
The Third Army Corps commander also addressed whether there
had been any temptation to announce Operation Vivaldi’s initial successes
earlier, during the Sept. 6 visit to Kyiv by U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and
Jared Kushner.
“There was such a temptation, but not on our part, not in
the Third Corps,” Biletskyi said. “And the commander-in-chief [Mykhailo
Drapatyi] fully supported us in keeping this information quiet. Only after
reaching designated lines should certain parts of the operation be disclosed.”
Biletskyi added that he understands the specifics of the
war’s “diplomatic track” and the need for psychological influence “both on the
enemy’s army and its population.”
“And this is a serious dimension of war — psychological
operations. So after several stages are completed, we will announce their
results. Everyone took 75 [liberated] square kilometers to mean 75 square
kilometers, but no one told you it ended at 75 square kilometers. Ukraine can
expect good news,” the general added.
Operation Vivaldi
On Sept. 15, Third Army Corps Commander Brig. Gen. Andrii
Biletskyi publicly confirmed for the first time that the Ukrainian military was
conducting an offensive in northern Donetsk Oblast.
The operation was named Vivaldi. So far, the Defense Forces
have cleared 75 square kilometers and liberated 10 square kilometers from
Russian occupation.
Russian losses at this stage of the operation totaled about
1,500 troops, more than 12,000 drones and hundreds of armored vehicles,
artillery systems and other vehicles.
Ukrainian unmanned systems units also cut Russian logistics
routes. Strikes by the Third Army Corps forced Russian forces to move fuel and
lubricants out of Ukraine to Russia’s Voronezh Oblast.
The Institute for the Study of War concluded that Ukraine’s
Defense Forces achieved an important operational objective through Operation
Vivaldi by disrupting
Russian attempts to encircle Ukraine’s 'fortress city belt' in Donbas.
Ukrainian gains north of Lyman made Russia’s “already unrealistic plan” to
encircle the fortress cities from the north and south impossible to carry out,
the analysts said.
The military war may be swinging in our favor, but the information war continues.
Just as an army needs soldiers, so does a free society need its journalists to ensure that people have access to honest, trustworthy voices to understand the world around them.
For the past five years, The New Voice of Ukraine has been working tirelessly to push back against Russian narratives and defend democracy. But we cannot do it alone.
Please consider supporting us on Patreon for just $5 a month – your donation does directly to supporting journalists and ensuring that this front of the infowar says solid and defended.
Thank you.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
