Ukraine's armed forces claim to have reversed Russian territorial gains during the autumn, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "Our soldiers have liberated more territory since the beginning of autumn than the Russians have managed to capture," he said in a public address. Ukrainian General Staff spokesman Andriy Kovalev denied Russian claims of seizing 1,800 sq km (700 square miles) of Ukrainian territory. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported that Ukraine made a net gain of 241 sq km (93 square miles) since September 1, effectively eliminating Russian territorial gains this year.
Ukraine's successes included Operation Vivaldi, a counteroffensive that halted a Russian pincer movement in the Donetsk region. General Andriy Biletskyi, who led the Third Army Corps in that campaign, said his forces eliminated a Russian bridgehead on the western bank of the Zherebets river and crossed to the east bank, stabilising the front line. He added that Russia now faces the "unsavoury option of a frontal assault" on heavily fortified cities including Kramatorsk, Sloviansk and Druzhivka, a plan Moscow has "temporarily abandoned."
Russia responded to its military setbacks by intensifying attacks on civilians. On October 22, three ballistic missiles with cluster warheads struck Kyiv, Zelenskyy said. Serhiy Beskrestnov, senior adviser to Ukraine's Defence Ministry, described the weapon: "This warhead detonates above the ground and is specifically designed to inflict maximum damage on people and equipment within an area of 400 by 400 metres. 45 submunitions explode in the air." One warhead landed between the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra cathedral and a monastery, an area Zelenskyy said contained no military targets. Russia's Defence Ministry claimed it had targeted assembly sites for Ukrainian drones and missiles.
Russia has also struck Ukraine's energy infrastructure more than 170 times since the US energy ceasefire took effect on October 11, according to Zelenskyy. Prime Minister Serhiy Khoretskyi told the BBC that since he took office in July, Russia has attacked energy infrastructure 2,147 times. "Russia is not achieving any significant results on the front lines. Therefore, it is directing all its aggression and hatred towards terrorising civilian infrastructure: electricity, heating, and now, water," he said.
Ukraine's defence has been hampered by US policy changes. The US suspended Starshield satellite navigation services, which Ukraine uses to operate drones at high speeds, and stopped providing early warnings of incoming ballistic missiles for a period in October. Early warning was restored on October 20, but three other US actions remain unresolved: a waiver of oil export sanctions on Russia, the non-release of Patriot interceptors despite European payment, and the continued suspension of Starshield. President Donald Trump's October 16 executive order waived sanctions on Russian diesel exports; President Vladimir Putin said the first 40,000 tonnes would depart for the US within days.
The US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Zelenskyy in Oslo on October 20 and with Putin in St Petersburg the following day. Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said Russia had agreed "in principle" to a trilateral meeting on November 10. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the planned meeting would be held in Abu Dhabi.