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Lyman: Reports of Russian retreat under Ukraine’s Operation Vivaldi
Reports of Russian withdrawals around Lyman follow Ukraine’s Operation Vivaldi. The available evidence points toward the Zherebets sector, not a confirmed pullback of entire armies or an end to the battle.
Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian positions around Lyman in northern Donetsk region during Operation Vivaldi, while reports from Russian military commentators describe withdrawals from parts of the southern approach to the city. The latest accounts point to serious pressure on elements of Russia’s 20th and 25th Combined Arms Armies, but they do not establish that those armies have withdrawn in their entirety or that the battle for Lyman is over.
A September 26 assessment by the Institute for the Study of War cited a Russian source claiming that troops were pulling back from southern Lyman to avoid encirclement while trying to hold positions on the western bank of the Zherebets River near Ivanivka and Zarichne. Other Russian commentators described Ukrainian advances around Yampil and pressure on Russian lines north and northeast of Lyman. Such battlefield accounts remain subject to verification and can change rapidly.
What Operation Vivaldi has achieved
Ukraine’s Third Army Corps first publicly disclosed Operation Vivaldi in mid-September, although it said preparations and fighting had begun earlier under operational secrecy. Commander Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi announced a second phase on September 20. The corps says the two phases brought about 125 square kilometers back under Ukrainian control, including 50 square kilometers liberated from Russian occupation. Those figures are Ukrainian military claims and are not independently confirmed in full.
The corps identified advances around Shandryholove, Derylove and Drobysheve. It credits a combination of strikes on Russian supply routes, drones, electronic warfare and infantry action. In its September 26 account, the Institute for the Study of War described a Ukrainian battalion commander’s explanation that Ukrainian units first disrupted attempts to reinforce small Russian infiltration groups, then moved against isolated groups after their supplies and communications were weakened.
Ukraine’s corps has released footage and accounts of participating units, including mechanized brigades and attached special forces. Its own descriptions of the operation are evidence of Ukrainian claims and tactics, but not a complete independent map of control in every settlement. The Russian side has not confirmed a general withdrawal of both armies from the sector.
Where Russian units may be falling back
The distinction between the Zherebets River and the Siverskyi Donets is central to the current reports. The available assessment points to Russian troops contesting positions around or toward the Zherebets, east of Lyman. It does not confirm a wholesale withdrawal of the 20th and 25th Armies behind the Siverskyi Donets, a stronger claim circulated on social media.
Elements of the 20th Army have operated mainly north of Lyman, while elements of the 25th have been involved in Russia’s effort to seize the city and push toward the Siverskyi Donets. Their boundaries and current positions are difficult to establish from public reporting. Accounts of a pullback from southern Lyman therefore should not be treated as proof that all units of either formation have left the battlefield.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive has altered a sector where Russian commanders had sought to press toward the Sloviansk–Kramatorsk defensive area. On September 25 and 26, Russian and Ukrainian accounts still described fighting and counterattacks near Lyman, Yampil and the Zherebets. The Third Army Corps continued to publish updates on the operation, including a September 25 account of how its operational-security unit had tried to conceal Ukrainian preparations.
