Exclusive: Over 250 Russian troops captured after units surrounded without food or water

More than 250 Russian troops, including officers, were captured during the third phase of Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi after their units were encircled near Sviatohirsk without food or water, according to Lt. Col. Petro Horbatenko of Ukraine's Third Army Corps. He said Russian command told surrounded troops they were safely behind their own lines even as they were being overrun, and that soldiers resorted to drinking urine and fighting each other over canned meat.

Ukrainian commanders say the broader offensive has reclaimed 176 square kilometers since it began, with Russian forces suffering roughly 2,000 personnel losses in this phase alone and more than 5,000 killed or wounded across the operation's first three phases, per Ukraine's presidential office. None of these figures have been independently verified outside Ukrainian military sources.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.