Key developments on Oct. 13
- Russian-led militants call for evacuation from Kherson
- Russia captures villages near Bakhmut
- Putin proposes Erdogan new gas deal
- Russia launches 15 airstrikes across Ukraine
Russian proxies in Kherson Oblast are losing control of the southern region they have occupied since early March.
Russian-led militants now call for an evacuation from the occupied territory. The call comes as Ukrainian forces advance toward occupied Kherson.
Moscow officially admitted the death of conscripted soldiers deployed to Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for mobilization.
According to Russia's regional authorities, five soldiers from Chelyabinsk Oblast were killed in Ukraine. All of them were conscripted after Sept. 21.
The Russian public's support for the war is declining, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram.
"Putin's regime is increasingly aware of the futility of plans to hold on to the captured Ukrainian territories," Maliar said on Oct. 13.
Battlefield development
Russian forces strengthen defenses in "the newly occupied territories," Southern Operational Command reported.
Russian forces also increased fire in multiple directions across Donetsk Oblast, including Kramatorsk, Avdiivka, Siversk, and Bakhmut.
Russian-led proxies claimed on Telegram that they captured the villages of Opytne and Ivanhrad, located south of Bakhmut. This is the first Russian success in months.
Kharkiv Oblast spokeswoman said about 51 settlements are left under Russian control. Kharkiv Oblast has been the site of Ukraine's successful counteroffensive, which liberated nearly the entire region.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's General Staff reported that Russia had ordered a halt to its offensive in Donetsk Oblast. Due to "extremely low morale and psychological condition of the recruits," General Staff said.
Gas threats
At a meeting in Kazakhstan, Putin said Turkey is the most reliable route to transport gas to the EU.
Back in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia could intentionally strike Ukraine's gas transit system to demand the launch of Nord Stream 2, scraped days before Russia launched its all-out war against Ukraine.
In an interview with German television broadcaster ZDF, Zelensky said such attacks could happen within two months.
Casualties and attacks
Russian forces launched a missile strike and 15 airstrikes across Ukraine on Oct. 13, according to Ukraine's General Staff.
Ukraine is now downing between 85-90% of Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones, said Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
Over 130 bodies were exhumed from mass burial sites in Donetsk Oblast. More bodies are being found across recently liberated territories as of Oct. 13, said Oleksandra Havryliuk, Donetsk Oblast police spokeswoman.
In the front line city of Avdiivka, city head Vitalii Barabash said that all residential buildings suffered damages due to Russian shelling.
A Russian missile strike destroyed a five-story building in Mykolaiv Oblast, killing at least five people. Governor Vitaly Kim said there might be more bodies under the rubble.
"Ukraine only has 10% of the air defense it needs," President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his address to the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe assembly on Oct. 13.
