Brig.

Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi says Ukraine’s Operation Vivaldi thwarted Russia’s key strategic objective for 2026. According to him, Moscow planned to encircle the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration and link converging offensives near Barvinkove in an effort to seize the Donetsk region. Biletskyi said the operation’s strategic value should be measured not in kilometers gained, but in the fact that Russia’s central plan for the year was disrupted.