Russians lost all hope of retaining their bridgehead as Ukrainians break their lines in the south.

Today there are important updates from the Lehman direction. Here Ukrainian forces are increasingly shifting their counterattacks toward the forests southeast of Lehman by transferring reinforcements with their improved logistical lines. The initial Ukrainian goal is to clear the forest west of Dibrova to consolidate full control over the village itself before pushing down the railway line and recapturing the strong points along the way, while other Ukrainian units secure the lakes northeast of Dibrova.

Russian infantry had repeatedly exploited this difficult terrain to infiltrate toward Lehman and Yampil using the vegetation to conceal tiny assault groups from Ukrainian reconnaissance. Now Ukraine is attempting to reverse that pressure and clear the forest belt that supported Russia's southern approach to remove the Russian infiltrators before they can accumulate into meaningful positions. Clearing the adjoining forests would consequently do two things simultaneously. Strengthen Lehman's southeastern defenses and provide Ukraine with better conditions for stabilizing Yampil.

The forest has already suffered enormous destruction after years of artillery, drones and close-range fighting. However, the autumn season creates an advantage for the Ukrainians because as foliage disappears, Russian soldiers who previously relied on it for concealment become increasingly vulnerable to thermal-equipped reconnaissance drones. As part of their clearing operation, Ukrainian drone pilots systematically scan the tree lines for heat signatures before directing FPV drones or infantry toward suspicious positions.

Russian soldiers sheltering beneath trees, inside dugouts, beside wrecked vehicles or underneath ruined structures remain difficult to identify visually, but thermal optics can reveal ordinary cameras miss. Fiber optic FPVs provide another useful tool in the area because unlike radio-controlled drones vulnerable to electronic warfare, they maintain their connection through physical fiber, allowing operators to penetrate wooded terrain where trees interfere with conventional signals.

Using them, Ukrainian operators can follow paths between trunks, investigate suspected shelters and attack positions concealed beneath remaining vegetation. Once the Ukrainian drones located a Russian group and narrowed down their exact location, Ukrainian assault troops moved forward, while strike drones suppressed or destroyed individual hideouts. Due to these advances, Russian forces mostly withdrew from their salient southeast of Lyman and are attempting to defend a small bridgehead west of the Darabets River, northeast of Yampil.

The broader development becomes particularly significant when combined with Operation Vivaldi, as Ukraine has already eliminated the large Russian salient north of Lyman, undermining Moscow's attempt to create a northern pincer around the city. Clearing operations in the forest southeast of Lyman now collapse their southern flank.

At the same time, the terrain severely restricts what Russia can do next, as dense forests make the use of armored vehicles almost impossible and those vehicles that can still go through are channeled onto predictable roads and tracks, making mechanized assaults vulnerable to mines, artillery and drones. The Russian command can continue sending small infantry groups through the forests, but the increasingly improved Ukrainian positions make those movements easier to detect and eliminate.

Overall, Ukraine has an opportunity to further exploit Russia's setback rather than merely consolidate it, as Ukrainian pressure is now moving southeast towards Yampil. If Ukrainian forces can systematically clear the remaining forest positions around the settlement and stabilize this flank, Russia will lose much of the terrain that allowed infiltrators to approach Lyman under concealment. From there, Ukraine can increasingly turn eastward and transform what began as an operation to save Lyman into a broader effort to push the front line farther away from the city.

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