Russians reduce aviation and artillery activity in Tavria sector - Defense Forces

Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesperson for the Defense Forces of the Tavria sector, said this during the United News telethon on Ukrainian TV channels, Ukrinform reports.

"For the second day in a row, the activity of the enemy's aircraft and artillery is decreasing. In the past day, the enemy launched eight airstrikes and carried out 455 artillery strikes. This is almost two times less than the day before, but they continue their infantry assaults in the Avdiivka and Maryinka directions, where they carried out about 15 unsuccessful attacks in the areas of Avdiivka, Maryinka, and Novomykhailivka. In the Shakhtarske sector, the enemy is on the defensive, no offensive actions were recorded. In the Zaporizhzhia sector, our defenders repelled the enemy's attack north of Novoprokopivka. In total, in the Tavria sector, the enemy conducted 18 combat engagements, with more than 15 of them in the Avdiivka and Maryinka sectors,” Shtupun said.

According to him, the Defense Forces continue the offensive operation in the Melitopol sector, where they had partial success west of Verbove in Zaporizhzhia region. There, Ukrainian defenders consolidate their positions and conduct preliminary reconnaissance for further actions.

In addition, Shtupun reported that the enemy's losses had decreased somewhat.

"Artillery and rocket forces performed 795 fire missions in the past day. The enemy’s total losses, unfortunately, decreased to 147 people. 6 units of military equipment were destroyed, including 2 tanks, 3 AFVs and 1 artillery system," said the spokesman, adding that the Defense Forces destroyed 3 ammunition depots of various levels.

 Shtupun also said that last week more than 30 occupiers surrendered. Over the past day, one occupier was captured.

As Ukrinform reported, from February 24, 2022 to October 9, 2023, the Defense Forces of Ukraine eliminated about 282,630 Russian aggressors, including 350 occupiers in the past 24 hours.