Ukraine claims tactical gains in Lyman as Russia prepares new assaults
Ukraine says its Operation Vivaldi halted a Russian encirclement plan near Lyman, while Russia readies mechanized attacks in the Dobropillya sector and continues to rely on North Korean labor.
Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps reported that its Operation Vivaldi in the Lyman direction has stopped a Russian attempt to encircle the so-called Fortress Belt from the north. Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi said Ukrainian forces defeated the Russian northern pincer and that the operation remains ongoing. The corps credited a systematic intermediate-range strike campaign against Russian logistics in occupied Luhansk Oblast with degrading fuel supplies and limiting the Russian electronic-warfare (EW) systems that protect drones.
According to Deputy Commander Maj. Maksym Zhorin, strict operational security and a “Protective Drone” system that neutralised roughly 20,000 Russian drones helped achieve surprise. He said the lack of public reporting on the offensive misled Russian commanders.
Russian commanders are shifting armor and drone assets to the Dobropillya axis for planned mechanized assaults in the fall. Brigadier General Denys Prokopenko noted that about 1,200 drone crews from Russia’s Rubikon Center are operating there and that mechanized columns of roughly 50 armored vehicles will be added to existing infantry units.
Ukraine also intensified long-range strikes, hitting transport aircraft and helicopters at Rostov-Central Airfield in Rostov Oblast, part of a broader campaign to suppress Russian air defenses.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said North Korea has sent between 30,000 and 50,000 soldiers to Russia for training and to work with drone operators, though they have not been deployed to Ukraine. The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team reported 15,000-30,000 North Koreans were employed at Russian drone factories by the end of 2025.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda warned that recent Russian drone incursions into NATO airspace may be deliberate, suggesting Moscow is using ambiguity to keep Baltic societies “in suspense.”
In the United States, the House passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which would allow tariffs of up to 100 % on the largest importers of Russian oil and gas, pending presidential approval.