Zelensky: Ukraine eliminated 10,660 Russian troops in a week, gains on Lyman axis under Operation Vivaldi
President Volodymyr Zelensky, briefed by Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi, said Ukrainian forces eliminated 10,660 Russian military personnel killed and wounded over the past week and reported notable results on the Lyman direction in Donetsk Oblast as part of Operation Vivaldi. The most intense combat continues on the Pokrovsk, Kostyantynivka and Lyman directions, while Ukrainian units are also active on the Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Sumy axes.
Key points
- President Zelensky announced 10,660 Russian personnel killed and wounded over the past week across all active front-line sectors, with each loss backed by video confirmation.
- Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi briefed Zelensky on the front-line situation on September 27.
- Ukrainian forces achieved important results on the Lyman direction in Donetsk Oblast within Operation Vivaldi.
- The most intense combat was on the Pokrovsk, Kostyantynivka and Lyman directions; Ukrainian units also carried out tasks on the Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Sumy axes.
- A separate active defence operation involving a grouping of Air Assault Forces troops is under way.
- Zelensky singled out the 3rd Army Corps and the 68th Separate Airmobile Brigade named after Oleksa Dovbush of the 8th Corps of the Air Assault Forces.
- Operation Vivaldi, publicly confirmed on September 15 by 3rd Army Corps commander Andriy Biletsky, has officially cleared 75 sq. km and de-occupied 10 sq. km.
Why it matters
The weekly summary is the principal public channel through which the Ukrainian leadership communicates cumulative Russian losses and the geographic distribution of fighting, giving a single-number snapshot of attrition and an indication of where Ukrainian offensive and defensive efforts are concentrated. Zelensky's framing links weekly results to Russia's broader offensive capacity: weeks that shift the balance, in his telling, constrain Moscow's ability to escalate elsewhere. The update also serves to recognize specific units for performance, reinforcing institutional visibility inside the Armed Forces.
What happened
On September 27, President Volodymyr Zelensky published a front-line update based on a briefing from Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapatyi. He reported that Ukrainian forces eliminated 10,660 Russian military personnel killed and wounded over the past week across all active front-line sectors, with each loss accompanied by video confirmation. Zelensky highlighted important results on the Lyman direction in Donetsk Oblast within Operation Vivaldi, an offensive in northern Donetsk that 3rd Army Corps commander Andriy Biletsky publicly confirmed on September 15 and that has officially cleared 75 sq. km and de-occupied 10 sq. km, including the settlement of Serednie and the villages of Korovii Yar, Novoselivka, Yarova and Oleksandrivka; on September 24, 3rd Army Corps chief of staff Petro Rollo Horbatenko told NV that Ukrainian forces additionally liberated Shandryholove and Derylove and fully cleared Drobysheve. Zelensky named the Pokrovsk, Kostyantynivka and Lyman directions as the areas of most intense combat, with Ukrainian units also carrying out tasks on the Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Sumy axes, and said a separate active defence operation involving a grouping of Air Assault Forces troops is under way. He singled out the 3rd Army Corps and the 68th Separate Airmobile Brigade named after Oleksa Dovbush of the 8th Corps of the Air Assault Forces for their performance that week, and framed Ukrainian weekly attrition as limiting Russia's ability to mount greater offensive activity against Ukraine. During Operation Vivaldi, fighters of the 3rd Army Corps used remote mining to create 400 metres of mine barriers over two nights with ground robotic complexes.
Background
Operation Vivaldi is an ongoing Ukrainian offensive in the north of Donetsk Oblast. It was publicly confirmed on September 15 by Andriy Biletsky, commander of the 3rd Army Corps, and has produced officially confirmed clearing of 75 sq. km and de-occupation of 10 sq. km, including the settlement of Serednie and the villages of Korovii Yar, Novoselivka, Yarova and Oleksandrivka. On September 24, 3rd Army Corps chief of staff Petro Rollo Horbatenko told NV that Ukrainian forces additionally liberated the villages of Shandryholove and Derylove and fully cleared the settlement of Drobysheve. During the operation, 3rd Army Corps fighters used remote mining to create 400 metres of mine barriers over two nights with ground robotic complexes. The weekly front-line summary was published by Zelensky on Sunday, September 27.