Watch: BBC follows Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi pushing Russia back on frontline

Inside the Ukrainian counter-offensive known as Operation Vivaldi, soldiers on the front line are being replaced after three months of holding the line and pushing Russia back. This four-stage operation has liberated 277 square kilometers of territory in the eastern Donbas region. The offensive has successfully thwarted a Russian pincer movement that threatened to encircle key Fortress Belt cities still under Ukrainian control.

While Russia has been raining down airstrikes on Ukraine, crippling energy infrastructure and killing civilians, Ukraine has inflicted heavy losses on the Russian forces, with an estimated 8,000 Russian casualties in Vivaldi alone, and close to 50,000 along the front in September. In response, Russian military bloggers have expressed fear that Ukraine's advances could lead to more losses for Russia in the future, though no Russian official has publicly acknowledged the gains.

Despite the Ukrainian advances, Russian drones remain a constant threat, with soldiers facing an average of 10 drones per day. Phoenix, a commander in the Revenge Brigade's Silver Trinity unit, uses Starshield, the military version of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communications network, to track and neutralize these drones. However, Starshield has recently been restricted without warning, causing major concern among Ukrainian commanders.

This tool is vital for interceptor and mid-range strike drones, which rely on digital connectivity to see, move, fly, communicate, and fire.

Underlying the battle for aerial superiority are unmanned ground vehicles that scurry back and forth, delivering supplies, evacuating the wounded, and sometimes even leading the charge against the enemy. Everything in this modern battlefield relies on digital connectivity, but at the end of the day, it is still human beings in trenches who are holding the ground. After pushing forward on the front line for 95 days, the weary soldiers are enjoying an emotional reunion at the command post.