Oct. 19, 2025, 4:25 p.m.
(National Guard soldiers during a training exercise... PHOTO: Efrem Lukatsky)
On October 18, Russian occupation forces increased pressure in the Prydniprovia sector, making three attempts to approach the positions of Ukrainian defenders.
This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Particular tension was observed in the Pokrovsk sector, where the largest number of attacks was recorded - 47 firefights. Intense fighting also took place in the Oleksandrivka (16 clashes) and Kostyantynivka (13 clashes) sectors. There were 11 combat engagements in the Kupiansk sector, and 8 in the Sloviansk and Pivdenno-Slobozhansky sectors.
In the Prydniprovskyi sector, Russian proxies tried to approach the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the strategically important Antonivskyi Bridge in the suburbs of Kherson three times. Ukrainian soldiers repelled all of these attacks. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian troops failed to advance in the Kherson sector on October 18.
Four clashes were recorded in the Lyman sector, three in the North Slobozhansky and Kursk sectors, and two in the Kramatorsk and Orikhiv sectors. The occupation forces did not conduct any offensive actions in the Huliaipol sector.
In the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, a scheme of forced mobilization involving falsification of contracts with the Russian Armed Forces was previously recorded.
It involves stealing passport data of civilians to sign contracts. This fraudulent scheme affects not only men. The criminals are actively obtaining personal data, in particular, via the Internet: they act under the guise of 'employers' who offer employment and require a passport scan for verification. In reality, this data ends up in the hands of Russian military structures, which use it to falsely sign contracts.
Катерина Глушко