Ukraine Holds Its Strongest Frontline Position in a Long Time, Zelensky Says

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday, Oct. 27, that Ukraine’s frontline positions are currently the strongest they have been in a long time, pointing to the country’s three landmark battlefield operations during this year. In a statement on Telegram, Zelensky placed Operation Veles, an underground operation conducted by the National Guard’s Khartiia Corps near Kupiansk, as the third of those operations. The first two were offensives led by the Air Assault Forces (DSHV) and the 3rd Army Corps.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “It is important to note that this year, Ukraine’s positions on the frontline remain the strongest they have been in a long time during this war,” Zelensky said, noting that Ukraine would be in a much better diplomatic position if partner support was equally strong, particularly in the field of air-defense systems. Air assault gains and Operation Vivaldi According to Zelensky, the offensive led by DSHV has liberated more than 800 square kilometers (309 square miles). The campaign ran through Jan. 29 through Aug. 12, liberating 26 settlements spanning across three regions – Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia. The second, Operation Vivaldi, was carried out by the 3rd Army Corps near Lyman in Donetsk region from July until mid-October. According to Zelensky, Ukraine’s Defense Forces liberated more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) there, in an area where Russia had concentrated its assaults. Other Topics of Interest POW Dispute: South Korea Pulls 8 Diplomats From Ukraine Seoul’s withdrawal follows its ambassador’s recall over Zelensky’s disclosure of a North Korean prisoner transfer. When the operation ended on Oct. 14, 3rd Corps commander Brig. Gen. Andriy Biletsky said his forces had retaken 277 square kilometers (107 square miles) and more than 16 towns and villages, while inflicting at least 8,000 casualties on Russian troops. The offensive, he said, pushed Russian forces back from the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk highway, a key supply route for both cities. Turning a Russian tactic against Moscow In a separate statement earlier on Tuesday, Zelensky said he had been briefed on the operation’s results by Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapaty, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa and Brig. Gen. Ihor Oboliensky, the Khartiia Corps commander. According to the report, Russian forces had previously tried to use underground gas pipelines to slip past Ukrainian positions and launch assaults. Ukraine’s Defense Forces then adopted the method and refined it, making it “far more thought-out and technologically advanced,” Zelensky said. Repeating figures Khartiia’s Corps first released on Oct. 22, Zelensky confirmed that more than 30 Russian soldiers have been captured, while Russian losses exceeded 100. At the time, it was reported that more than 30 Russian prisoners were captured, with the maneuver described as the world’s first full-scale underground counteroffensive. Without any GPS or daylight, Ukrainian troops pushed through more than 15 kilometers (9 miles) of underground infrastructure before emerging behind Russian positions overhead. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 90% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.