Zelensky visits Lyman front, meets commanders on Operation 'Vivaldi' fourth-season plans

Why it matters

The trip tied front-line operational questions — long-range artillery, brigade-level procurement, drone funding, pay for frontline troops, returns from unauthorized absence — to decisions the President said would be escalated to the Staff (Stavka), Ukraine's top wartime decision-making body. It also served as a morale marker on the eve of Defender of Ukraine Day, with a cluster of state awards and brigadier-general promotions. The visit highlighted Operation 'Vivaldi' as both a stabilizing effort on the Lyman sector and a testing ground for unmanned ground systems, with the 'Gryfon' tactic and plans for a fourth season flagged as forward-looking.

What happened

On 30 September, President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to the Lyman direction and visited the command post of the 66th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Prince Mstyslav the Brave, part of the 3rd Army Corps running Operation 'Vivaldi' in northern Donetsk Oblast. He was accompanied by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapatyi and Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara; some sources also list Deputy Head of the Office of the President Pavlo Palisa and commander of the Airborne Assault Forces Oleh Apostol. Zelensky met with brigade commander Rostyslav Sylivakin, awarded 16 servicemembers the Order of Courage 2nd and 3rd class, and congratulated troops ahead of the Intercession (Pokrova) holiday and Defender of Ukraine Day.

He also visited the 3rd Army Corps command post, where he met soldiers implementing Operation 'Vivaldi' and discussed plans for a fourth season of active operations. He held a coordination meeting with corps, brigade and battalion commanders covering defense procurement (especially pickups at brigade level), strengthening the Unmanned Systems Forces, increased drone funding, simplified procurement, expanded staffing and personnel training, long-range artillery needs, and proposals on pay for front-line soldiers. In separate talks with corps commanders, he discussed the situation on eastern and southern fronts, drone and anti-drone technologies, new methods of warfare, returns from unauthorized absence (СЗЧ), recruitment of foreigners, and logistics. Zelensky said issues raised at the military command level would be worked through at a Staff (Stavka) meeting, and identified replacing troops with ground robotic systems in the most dangerous tasks as a priority.

The visit came as the 3rd Army Corps reported cumulative gains of 176 km² since the start of offensive actions north of Lyman, with over 125 km² attributed to the 66th Brigade and adjacent units under 'Vivaldi'. Reported Russian losses across the three seasons exceed 5,000 killed and wounded, with more than 250 taken prisoner. Zelensky signed decrees awarding the rank of brigadier general to Deputy Defence Minister Colonel Shvydkyi and to commander of the 11th Army Corps Colonel Ishkulov.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian coverage frames the visit as a morale-and-leadership moment on the eve of Defender of Ukraine Day and the Intercession (Pokrova) holiday, foregrounding state decorations and direct congratulations to troops. Reporting positions Operation 'Vivaldi' in cumulative, success-oriented terms — territory returned, settlements liberated, prisoners taken, and degradation of the elite Russian Rubicon UAV unit — and stresses that the operation stabilized the Lyman sector and thwarted Russian plans toward the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration. Forward-looking elements — plans for a fourth season, the 'Gryfon' tactic, and ground robotic complexes replacing soldiers in high-risk tasks — are highlighted, presenting the Lyman direction as a laboratory for unmanned warfare. Operational detail is granular (named villages, stage-by-stage square-kilometer figures, equipment losses), reflecting close sourcing from official Ukrainian military and presidential communications.

Where reporting differs

Sources diverge on the cumulative territory retaken: Zelensky's 30 September framing for the 66th Brigade within the 3rd Army Corps cites 'over 125 km²', while Biletsky's 28 September figure for the corps overall is '176 km² since the start of offensive actions north of Lyman'. Russian personnel losses are also framed unevenly, with earlier-stage reporting of around 1,500 servicemen and 12,000+ drones lost, versus 2,000 troops lost specifically during the third stage per Biletsky. Award coverage varies: most reports name 16 servicemembers receiving the Order of Courage 2nd and 3rd class, while a separate set of reports cites 20 servicemembers receiving Bohdan Khmelnytsky 3rd class and Orders of Courage at the 3rd Army Corps meeting. The delegation accompanying Zelensky is reported inconsistently: all sources name Drapatyi and Khmara, some add Pavlo Palisa, and others add Oleh Apostol.

Background

Operation 'Vivaldi' is an ongoing Ukrainian offensive in northern Donetsk Oblast, first publicly announced on 15 September by 3rd Army Corps commander Andriy Biletsky. It has been conducted in multiple 'seasons' or stages, with reported gains of 10 km² liberated and 75 km² cleared in the first stage, an additional 51 km² in the third stage, and cumulative figures cited both as 'over 125 km² returned' for the 66th Brigade and adjacent units and as 176 km² for the 3rd Army Corps overall since the start of offensive actions north of Lyman. Reported Russian losses across the three seasons exceed 5,000 killed and wounded, with over 250 taken prisoner; the elite Russian Rubicon UAV unit is reported to have been withdrawn from the Lyman-Borova direction after taking significant losses. 'Vivaldi' is a Ukrainian framework name; no comparable Russian-side designation appears in the supplied material.