Ukraine's military has recaptured more than 600 settlements from the Russian forces over the the past month, the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories said, as Moscow continued to strike dozens of cities, killing a number of civilians.
Some 502 settlements have been liberated in the northeast Kharkiv region, where Ukrainian forces last month advanced deep into Russian lines and 75 localities were recaptured in the highly strategic Kherson region, the ministry said late on October 13.
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The ministry said 43 settlements were liberated in the Donetsk region and seven in the Luhansk region.
"The area of liberated Ukrainian territories has increased significantly," the ministry said in a statement on its website.
The report could not be independently verified.
The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on October 14 that at least nine civilians were killed and 15 wounded over the past 24 hours.
On October 13, Russian missiles and drones targeted dozens of Ukrainian cities and towns for a fourth day in a row. Most victims were in the southern city of Mykolayiv, officials said.
Mykolayiv, a shipbuilding center and a port on the Southern Buh River, has been a frequent target of Russian attacks. The Ukrainian military General Staff said the latest attack involved eight S-300 missiles.
The region around Kyiv was also targeted in the bombardment, setting off air-raid sirens multiple times. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, said the strikes by Iranian-made drones hit critical infrastructure facilities.
Elsewhere, Britain's Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence bulletin on October 14 that over the past three days, pro-Russian forces had made tactical advances towards the center of the town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region.
Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address late on October 13 that "brutal" fighting continued in Bakhmut, and that Ukrainian troops were defending Bakhmut with "skillful and heroic actions."
In the Donbas, the British intelligence bulletin said Russia continued with offensive operations and was "very slowly" making progress.
Four Ukrainian regions under partial Russian occupation -- Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhya, were seized by Moscow late last month as a counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces rapidly advanced in the northeast, east, and south.
The seizures were denounced by Kyiv and the West as illegal.
Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to be especially careful about more possible Russian strikes on October 14, when the country celebrates the Day of Defenders of Ukraine.
"Tomorrow we will definitely celebrate -- everyone in their place -- one of our most important days. Protection Day, Day of Defenders of Ukraine," Zelenskiy said.
He also lashed out at the International Committee of the Red Cross, accusing it of inaction in upholding the rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war and urged it to undertake a mission to Olenivka -- a notorious camp in the Russian-occupied east of the country where dozens of Ukrainian POWs died in an explosion and fire in July.
"I believe the International Committee of the Red Cross is not a club with privileges where one receives a salary and enjoys life," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
"The Red Cross has obligations, primarily of a moral nature. The mandate of the Red Cross must be fulfilled. It is necessary to immediately do what is entirely logical for the Red Cross."
The Prosecutor-General's Office in Kyiv said on October 14 that 423 Ukrainian children had been killed and 810 were wounded since the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion.
Zelenskiy told international representatives at the Council of Europe on October 13 that Ukraine needs to protect its skies.
“If this is done, it will be a fundamental step to end the entire war in the near future,” Zelenskiy said.
Responding to Zelenskiy's pleas, the British government announced it would provide missiles for advanced NASAM antiaircraft systems that the Pentagon plans to send to Ukraine in the coming weeks.
Britain also is sending hundreds of aerial drones for information-gathering and logistics support, plus 18 howitzers.
Other NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels this week promised to supply systems offering medium- to long-range defense against missile attacks.
Meanwhile, evacuees from Kherson were expected to begin arriving it Russia on October 14 after a Moscow-installed official suggested residents should leave for safety in a sign that Ukrainian forces are making consistent advances in the region that Moscow claims to have seized.
"We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if they wish, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes...go to other regions," Vladimir Saldo said on Telegram.