176㎢ of Lehman area recovered through 'Operation Vivaldi' using robots and drones

CNBC reported on the 4th (local time) that Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, succeeded in an operation using a large number of unmanned robots and drones on the eastern Donbas front and regained much of the territory lost to Russia.

This operation is evaluated as showing a paradigm of modern warfare that can achieve military goals while minimizing loss of life by putting robots instead of humans at the forefront.

According to reports, the Ukrainian Army's 3rd Corps launched a large-scale attack in the Liman area in northern Donetsk Oblast through 'Operation Vivaldi', which began last May.

It is reported that the Ukrainian military secured air superiority in the Liman area and restricted the Russian military's use of drones, and that Ukrainian drones took advantage of the gap to attack the Russian military by dropping an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) behind the Russian military.

As a result, the Ukrainian army succeeded in breaking the Russian defense line and reclaiming the territory.

Ukrainian Brigadier General Andriy Bireltsky said, “In the third phase of Operation Vivaldi, we recaptured an additional 51 km2, totaling 176 km2,” and added, “In the recent battle alone, we inflicted losses on about 2,000 Russian soldiers and took about 250 prisoners.”

Security experts draw the line that this operation does not mean a decisive reversal of the front line, but emphasize that it is a major blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambition to occupy Donbas.

Patrick Boulder, a defense expert at the Hague Center for Strategic Studies (HCSS), said, “After the Ukrainian military secured the skies over the Liman region through meticulous disruption operations and months of air operations, it deployed unmanned ground robots to the rear of the Russian military and attacked the enemy without losing any troops,” adding, “It dealt a major fatal blow to achieving Putin’s war goals.”

Serhiy Kuzan, director of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation (USCC), a Kiev-based think tank close to the Ukrainian government, explained, "Remote control platforms are being used for missions that previously required tens or hundreds of soldiers. Operation Vivaldi replaces human resources with robots, making it possible to complete the mission with minimal casualties."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also recently wrote on social media, "Replacing soldiers with ground robotic systems wherever possible is a very promising direction," and added, "We will significantly expand support to ensure that the most dangerous missions are performed by drones and robots rather than humans."

Meanwhile, according to Ukrainian intelligence authorities, the Russian leadership initially intended to occupy the entire Donetsk Oblast by the end of this year, but faced severe losses amounting to 70-80% of all casualties in major areas of the region, and postponed the deadline for achieving the goal to March of next year.