Ukraine says it forced 250 Russian soldiers to surrender in daring operation

A daredevil Ukrainian operation using robots dropped behind enemy lines and “Trojan” armored personnel carriers laden with explosives has led to the capture of more than 250 Russian troops, Kyiv says.

Ukraine’s army has been chipping away at Russian-controlled territories in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas as part of a counteroffensive operation dubbed “Vivaldi.”

Its successes have provided a spark of optimism in what has otherwise been a bleak few months for Ukraine.

A video of the surrendering Russians, shared by Ukraine’s Third Army Corps this week, shows dozens of men walking through a forest in single file, forming a long human chain. Heads down, they are closely guarded by their Ukrainian captors who then herd them into a tight formation and make them conduct an improvised rollcall.

Thomas Peter/Reuters

The video shows some of the Russian prisoners explaining that they surrendered because they “didn’t want to die in vain” and describing eating bark and grass as well as drinking from puddles after running out of the most basic provisions.

Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto/Getty Images

‘Robots don’t bleed’: Ukraine sends machines into the battlefield in place of human soldiers

CNN cannot independently verify the video or Ukrainian claims about the surrender, but some prominent Russian military bloggers have lamented recent Ukrainian advances and demanded answers from the Russian leadership over the reports of command failures and supply shortages that led to the surrenders.

Russia has been pummeling Ukrainian cities with near non-stop aerial attacks, taking advantage of Kyiv’s critical shortages of air defense missiles. The past four months have been among the deadliest for Ukrainian civilians since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

Alex Babenko/Getty Images

Operation Vivaldi has been largely defined by Ukraine’s innovative use of technology, especially aerial and ground drones and armored personal carriers.

During one assault operation, Ukrainian military managed to airdrop robotic systems equipped with heavy guns more than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) behind the Russian lines, according to Andriy Biletskyi, the commander of the Third Army Corps .

Controlled from the safety of command centers deep inside Ukraine-held territory, these land drones were then able to attack Russian troops from an unexpected direction.

The skies above the front lines in Ukraine have been swarming with drones for years now, posing a threat to infantry so grave it has forced Ukraine to make ground robots an integral part of its arsenal.

These land drones are much harder to spot and intercept than larger military vehicles. Compared with their aerial counterparts, they can operate in all weather conditions and carry much larger payloads.

But Operation Vivaldi is the first time they are known to have been smuggled behind Russia’s defensive lines.

In another innovation, the Third Army Corps converted old Soviet-era armored personnel carriers into unmanned kamikaze ground vehicles by stuffing them with explosives and sending them towards Russian fortification, prompting Ukraine’s military to refer to them as “Trojan” tanks.

Maria Senovilla/EPA/Shutterstock

After three months of small but steady Russian gains, the situation flipped in September when Russia lost more Ukrainian territory than it seized.

Experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based conflict monitor, calculated that while Russian forces seized about 175 square kilometers (67 square miles) in September, they elsewhere lost 256 square kilometers (99 square miles).

Operation Vivaldi played a key role in this – allowing Ukraine to recapture nearly 150 square kilometers (58 square miles), according to the ISW.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put the gains made by Vivaldi even higher, saying 176 square kilometers (68 square miles) had been recaptured and 5,000 Russian troops either wounded or killed since the operation started.

Igor Ivanko/AFP/Getty Images

Putin warns Russia is prepared to use ‘all weapons,’ including nuclear, to protect Kaliningrad

The losses have been noticed in Russia – Rybar, one of the most prominent pro-Kremlin Russian military bloggers, has taken to Telegram to complain about the “deteriorating” situation, saying Russian troops will now be “forced to reorganize their logistics and adjust the pace of their advance on both Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin desperately wants to seize Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region , and the two cities which form a part of Ukraine’s defenses are a key obstacle in that goal.

Speaking at the Valdai Club, a Moscow-based discussion forum, on Thursday, Putin claimed that Europe and Ukraine fear Kyiv can withstand Russia’s advances for only another 18-24 months. Putin suggested Moscow could take the remainder of Donetsk in even less time and Ukrainian resistance was futile

However, the Vivaldi Operation has raised hopes in Kyiv that Russia may not be capable of taking the rest of the Donbas so quickly. While Moscow has been slowly chipping away at the so-called “fortress belt” in the east, its advances have been slow and costly.

Western intelligence services estimate Russia is losing some 40,000 troops a month – a rate of roughly 340 casualties for every square kilometer. The ISW has calculated that at their current pace, Russian forces would not take over the rest of the Donbas until 2032 — if they can seize it at all.

CNN’s Kosta Gak contributed reporting.

基辅方面表示，乌克兰方面采取了一项大胆的行动，使用投放到敌后的机器人和装载炸药的“特洛伊木马”装甲运兵车，俘虏了 250 多名俄罗斯士兵。

作为代号为“维瓦尔第”的反攻行动的一部分，乌克兰军队一直在逐步蚕食乌克兰东部顿巴斯地区俄罗斯控制的领土。

它的成功给过去几个月来乌克兰的黯淡局面带来了一丝乐观的曙光。

乌克兰第三军本周公布的一段俄军投降视频显示，数十名俄军士兵排成一列，穿过一片森林，形成一条长长的人链。他们低着头，被乌克兰俘虏者严密看守。乌克兰俘虏者随后将他们赶成紧密的队形，并让他们进行临时点名。

Thomas Peter/路透社

视频显示，一些俄罗斯战俘解释说，他们投降是因为“不想白白死去”，并描述了在最基本的食物耗尽后，他们吃树皮、吃草、喝水坑里的水。

德米特罗·斯莫连科/Ukrinform/NurPhoto/Getty Images

“机器人不会流血”：乌克兰用机器代替人类士兵上战场

CNN无法独立核实该视频或乌克兰方面关于投降的说法，但一些著名的俄罗斯军事博主对乌克兰最近的进展表示遗憾，并要​​求俄罗斯领导层就导致投降的指挥失误和物资短缺的报道作出解释。

俄罗斯利用基辅防空导弹严重短缺的弱点，对乌克兰城市发动了几乎不间断的空袭。过去四个月是自2022年全面入侵以来，乌克兰平民伤亡最惨重的时期之一。

Alex Babenko/Getty Images

“维瓦尔第行动”很大程度上体现了乌克兰对技术的创新运用，特别是空中和地面无人机以及装甲运兵车。

据乌克兰第三军军长安德烈·比列茨基称，在一次突击行动中，乌克兰军队成功地将配备重型火炮的机器人系统空投到俄军防线后方 10 公里（6.2 英里）处。

这些陆地无人机由位于乌克兰控制区深处的安全指挥中心控制，然后能够从意想不到的方向攻击俄罗斯军队。

多年来，乌克兰前线上空无人机密密麻麻，对步兵构成严重威胁，迫使乌克兰将地面机器人纳入其武器库。

这些陆地无人机比大型军用车辆更难发现和拦截。与空中无人机相比，它们可以在各种天气条件下作业，并携带更大的有效载荷。

但据知，这是“维瓦尔第行动”首次将这些武器走私到俄罗斯防线后方。

在另一项创新中，第三军将苏联时代的旧装甲运兵车改装成无人自杀式地面车辆，方法是在车内装满炸药，然后将其派往俄罗斯防御工事，这促使乌克兰军方称其为“特洛伊木马”坦克。

Maria Senovilla/EPA/Shutterstock

在俄罗斯取得三个月虽小但稳步的进展后，9 月份局势发生逆转，俄罗斯失去的乌克兰领土比夺取的还要多。

美国冲突观察机构战争研究所 (ISW) 的专家计算得出，虽然俄罗斯军队在 9 月份占领了约 175 平方公里（67 平方英里）的土地，但他们在其他地方却失去了 256 平方公里（99 平方英里）的土地。

据 ISW 称，“维瓦尔第行动”在其中发挥了关键作用，使乌克兰得以收复近 150 平方公里（58 平方英里）的土地。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基甚至将维瓦尔第行动取得的成果描述得更加辉煌，称自行动开始以来，已收复 176 平方公里（68 平方英里）的土地，并造成 5000 名俄罗斯士兵伤亡。

伊戈尔·伊万科/法新社/盖蒂图片社

普京警告称，俄罗斯准备动用包括核武器在内的“一切武器”来保卫加里宁格勒。

俄罗斯方面已经注意到了这些损失——俄罗斯最著名的亲克里姆林宫军事博客作者之一 Rybar 在 Telegram 上抱怨局势“恶化”，称俄罗斯军队现在将“被迫重新组织后勤，并调整向斯拉维扬斯克和克拉马托尔斯克推进的步伐”。

俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京迫切希望夺取乌克兰东部的顿巴斯地区，而作为乌克兰防御体系一部分的两座城市是实现这一目标的关键障碍。

普京周四在莫斯科瓦尔代俱乐部发表讲话时声称，欧洲和乌克兰担心基辅最多只能再抵挡俄罗斯的进攻18到24个月。普京暗示，莫斯科甚至可以在更短的时间内拿下顿涅茨克剩余地区，乌克兰的抵抗是徒劳的。

然而，“维瓦尔第行动”让基辅燃起了希望，认为俄罗斯或许无法如此迅速地拿下顿巴斯的其余地区。尽管莫斯科一直在缓慢地蚕食东部的所谓“堡垒带”，但其推进缓慢且代价高昂。

西方情报机构估计，俄罗斯每月损失约4万名士兵，相当于每平方公里约有340人伤亡。国际战略情报局（ISW）计算得出，按照目前的速度，俄罗斯军队要到2032年才能占领顿巴斯剩余地区——如果他们最终能够占领的话。

美国有线电视新闻网 (CNN) 的科斯塔·加克 (Kosta Gak) 提供了报道。