- Published
A Russian drone zips across the computer screen, startling the commanders keeping watch over the battlefield via a live stream in their bunker.
asserted
drone → publish → bunker
Cigarette in one hand, radio in the other, one of them calls in their own drone to bring it down and warns the soldiers below of the threat.
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one → call → threat
The men are dangerously exposed, on the long walk across open ground from their front line positions.
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men → expose → positions
They are being replaced after three months forcing the Russians back.
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They → replace → Russians
This is part of Operation Vivaldi, a Ukrainian counter-offensive which they say has liberated 277 sq km (106 square miles) in the eastern Donbas region in recent months.
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they → say → months
The name reflects the offensive's four stages, or seasons - like the Italian composer's violin concerto.
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name → reflect → concerto
The successful assault blunted an attempted Russian pincer movement that threatened to encircle the key Fortress Belt cities still under Ukrainian control.
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that → blunt → control
While Russia this month pummels Ukraine from the air, crippling its energy infrastructure and killing scores of civilians across the country, at the front, it is Ukraine that has made recent gains.
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that → pummel → gains
Kyiv says it has inflicted heavy losses - 8,000 Russian casualties in Vivaldi alone, and close to 50,000 along the front in the month of September – and suffered few casualties in return.
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it → say → return
The Institute for the Study of War reported that pro-Russian military bloggers had acknowledged the Ukrainian advances, and expressed fears this could lead to more losses for Russia in the future.
uncertain
this → report → future
No Russian official has publicly acknowledged the Ukrainian gains.
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official → acknowledge → gains
Russian ministry of defence briefings say only that they were "repelling attacks" in the Lyman region, or "improving the tactical position at the front".
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they → say → front
Phoenix, Commandant of the Revenge Brigade's Silver Trinity unit, tells me his men face 10 on an average day.
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men → tell → day
He is fixed on the live stream as a Ukrainian snare swoops in, hovers for a few seconds and drops a net on to the drone, dragging it from the sky.
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snare → fix → sky
This Russian drone was for reconnaissance, but if it had locked on to the soldiers, another drone carrying explosives would have followed.
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drone → lock → explosives
This moment of peril illustrates the layers making up the modern battlefield.
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moment → illustrate → battlefield
The command bunker receives live pictures from a hovering camera, while below a Ukrainian attack drone attacks another enemy spotter which would have called in more flying firepower.
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which → receive → firepower
Integrated in all of this is Starshield, the military version of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communications network, providing broadband connectivity across the battlefield.
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Starshield → integrate → battlefield
Ukraine said this week, as Operation Vivaldi concluded, that the system had restrictions imposed without warning, limiting their capability.
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system → say → capability
Musk and media reports suggest the order may have come from the White House.
uncertain
order → suggest → House
And knowing this tool can be restricted without any warning or consultation has sparked major concern in Ukraine.
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tool → know → Ukraine
Beneath the battle for aerial superiority, unmanned ground vehicles scurry back and forth delivering supplies, evacuating the wounded or, increasingly, leading the charge against the enemy.
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vehicles → scurry → enemy
Everything here relies on digital connectivity - to see, to move, to fly, to communicate, to fire.
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Everything → rely → connectivity
But at the bottom of this stack, it is still human beings in trenches who are holding the ground.
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who → hold → ground
The weary soldiers have made it safely to the command post.
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soldiers → make → post
An infantryman with the call-sign Dealer tells me he feels strong, but it is good to be finally heading home: "It's an impressive operation.
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It → tell → me
Over three months, we moved positions four times."
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we → move → positions
He tells me the most frightening threat was Russian drones, piloted remotely and determined to hunt down their target.
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threat → tell → target
Commandant Phoenix said the preparation for the offensive was "enormous".
"
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preparation → say → offensive
The men trained for months.
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men → train → months
We had to completely restructure our approach because previously we had been defending, and now we had to go on the offensive."
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we → have → offensive
Robots and drones led the assault on Russian positions and, for the first time, remote-controlled explosive vehicles were dropped behind Russian lines - 250 Russians surrendered.
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Russians → lead → lines
According to Ukrainian commanders, their year-long campaign has freed 16 settlements from Russian occupation.
uncertain
campaign → accord → occupation
In Karpivka, a village occupied since April, the Ukrainians found one local resident remaining - 61 year old Volodymyr Zamota, the last man standing when his neighbours fled the Russian advance in 2025.
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neighbours → occupy → 2025
He says he survived for eight months in total isolation.
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he → say → isolation
"As they say, hope dies last," he told me.
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he → say → me
"I'm the only person left in the whole village, and the village has been almost completely destroyed.
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village → leave → village
"I thought I would live to old age without experiencing anything like this, but then it happened.
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it → think → this
That devastation defines the region Ukraine has just recaptured.
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Ukraine → define → region
It's still too risky for residents to return, if they even have a home intact.
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home → return → ?
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
