Operation Vivaldi sets precedent for new military cooperation between branches – veteran Dykyi
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The explosion of one of the old APCs converted into kamikaze robots during Operation Vivaldi (Photo: Video still from the 3rd Army Corps via Facebook)
Ukrainian war veteran and former Aidar Battalion company commander Yevhen Dykyi told Radio NV that Operation Vivaldi established an unprecedented model of cooperation among different branches of the military.
"Operation Vivaldi is important not so much in itself. It is important in its own right, too, but it is what we call an operational-level mission. It is no longer tactical, but it is not yet strategic. It is precisely what is known as an operational-level operation. But its significance lies in the precedent it sets. Under the name Vivaldi, an entirely new model of cooperation between different branches of the military was tested. In particular, a completely new approach to using robotic systems was developed. A model was tested in which assault infantry — and no matter how you look at it, infantry remains the most important element of warfare — advances after drones, rather than ahead of them or alongside them," Dykyi said on Radio NV.
He added that Operation Vivaldi also introduced numerous innovations in command and communications.
«Essentially, a new army structure and a new approach to warfare have been tested, one that meets the demands of this first war of the 21st century and fully addresses its new challenges. The question now is how to scale it up. The experience of the 3rd Army Corps and Azov, the two model formations where this was first successfully implemented, will now be extended to all other corps,» the Ukrainian veteran stressed.
Operation Vivaldi
On Sept. 15, 3rd Army Corps commander Andrii Biletskyi publicly confirmed for the first time that Ukrainian forces had launched an offensive in northern Donetsk Oblast. The operation was named Vivaldi. At the time, officials confirmed that Ukrainian troops had cleared 75 square kilometers and liberated 10 square kilometers of occupied territory.
According to Ukraine’s defense forces, Russian losses at that stage of the operation totaled approximately 1,500 troops, more than 12,000 drones and hundreds of armored vehicles, artillery systems and other military vehicles. Ukrainian units cut off Russian logistical routes and forced Russian forces to move their fuel supplies outside Ukraine.
On Sept. 18, the 3rd Army Corps reported that Russia’s elite Rubikon drone unit had been withdrawn from the Lyman-Borova sector after suffering heavy losses during Operation Vivaldi.
On Sept. 20, Biletskyi confirmed the liberation of the villages of Shandryholove and Derylove, as well as the restoration of full Ukrainian control over Drobysheve as part of Operation Vivaldi. The corps' press service told NV that another 40 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory had been liberated. It also said Russian losses had risen to 3,000 troops.
On Sept. 28, Biletskyi reported that troops from the 3rd Army Corps had liberated Nove, Ridkodub and Katerynivka and regained control of Karpivka and Novomykhailivka. Ukrainian forces had thus recaptured another 51 square kilometers of territory, bringing the total liberated since the offensive began to 176 square kilometers.
On Sept. 30, ahead of Ukraine’s Defenders Day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi and Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara visited the command post of the 66th Separate Mechanized Brigade, named after Prince Mstyslav the Brave, in the Lyman sector.
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