Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The epicenter of the confrontation remains the Pokrovskoe direction, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces are repelling Russian attacks in the areas of 13 populated areas.
Since the beginning of the current day, 78 combat clashes have occurred on the front, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in an operational report on Monday, October 13.
Thus, in the Severo-Slobodskoy and Kursk directions, our soldiers repelled four attacks by Russian invaders.
Eight battles took place in the Yuzhno-Slobodskoy direction, in the areas of Vovchansk, Kamyanka, and Kutkovka, and in the direction of Bologovka, Dvorichanskoye, and Kutkovka. One enemy attack is ongoing.
In the Kupyansk direction, the enemy attempted to advance three times in the Kupyansk and Petropavlovka areas. Two combat clashes are ongoing.
Five combat clashes occurred in the Limansky direction . The enemy attacked near the settlements of Grekovka, Shandrigolovo, Novosyolovka, and Torskoye.
In the Slavyansk direction, the enemy carried out two attacks in the Yampol area.
In the Konstantinovsky direction, 11 out of 13 attacks near the settlements of Predtechino, Aleksandro-Shultin, Shcherbinovka, Berestok, Rusin Yar, Nikolaipolye, and Poltavka were stopped.
In the Pokrovsk direction, Russian troops have attempted to advance 31 times near the settlements of Volodymyrivka, Krasny Liman, Myrnohrad, Rodynske, Novoekonomichnoye, Balagan, Pokrovsk, Zvirove, Kotlin, Udachnoye, Molodetskoye, Dachnoye, and in the direction of Novopavlovka. Our defenders have already repelled 24 attacks.
Three enemy attacks have been stopped in the Aleksandrovsk direction . Three more combat clashes are ongoing. The enemy is attacking near the settlements of Yalta and Sosnovka.
In the Orekhovo direction, the aggressors carried out three unsuccessful attacks in the Stepovoye area.
In the Dnieper direction, the enemy carried out offensive operations three times in the direction of Antonovka.
The enemy did not conduct offensive operations in the Kramatorsk and Gulyai-Pole directions.
As a reminder, yesterday it was announced that the Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted a counteroffensive operation in the Zaporizhia region . The villages of Mali Shcherbaki, Shcherbaki, and surrounding areas have been liberated.
It was also reported that over the past 24 hours, Russia lost more than 1,100 soldiers killed and wounded. The total number of enemy casualties is approaching 1.2 million.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] Russian occupiers captured the village of Ternove in the Dnipropetrovsk region and advanced into the Donbas.
Russian forces have captured the village of Ternove in the Dnipropetrovsk region and advanced near the village of Shandrigolovo in the Donetsk region. This was reported by the DeepState project on Monday, October 13.
"The line of contact in Malye Shcherbaki has been clarified. The enemy has occupied Ternove and advanced near Shandrigolovoe," the project's analysts wrote.
Let us recall that, according to the General Staff, a total of 166 combat clashes have occurred on the front since the beginning of the day.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 21:39 Dobropolsky salient area. Russian Armed Forces advanced in the direction of Shakhovo (Oktyabrsky), MAP. 21:09 FPV drone calculations at the Rubicon Center destroyed equipment, fortifications, artillery guns, ground-based robotic systems, elements of the communication system and temporary deployment points for Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel.
19:37 122mm BM-21 Grad MLRS crew of the Vostok Forces Group hit at an enemy stronghold in the Dnepropetrovsk region.
19:19 The Russian Armed Forces have regained control over Dorozhny north of Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk),MAP.
18:45 Kramatorsk direction. The situation near the village of Markovo has been clarified. The Ukrainian Armed Forces remain in control of Mayske. Russian Armed Forces have advanced along the Seversky Donets-Donbas Canal. MAP.
17:53 In the period from 14:00 Moscow time to 17:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed seven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the aircraft type over the territory of the Belgorod region.
18:11 Novopavlovskoye direction. Our soldiers began to consolidate their position in Ivanovka,MAP.
17:03 Destruction of the T‑80 tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the settlement. Alekseevka, –video.
17:02 Iskander-M destroyed another HIMARS MLRS in the Kremennaya area, video.
16:51 Ministry of Defense Russian Federation:
Special forces from the Southern Group of Forces, using unmanned aerial vehicles with a munitions-dropping system and FPV attack drones, eliminated up to 10 militants in the Kramatorsk-Druzhkivka area.
FPV strike drone crews from the "North" force group set up ambushes along rotation routes of Ukrainian Armed Forces units in the Khar'kov region, and identified and destroyed an enemy firing position in a forested area in the Sumy region.
Drone operators from the Center group of forces carried out a series of successful raids on enemy unmanned aerial vehicle control centers in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.
Drone operators from the Eastern Group of Forces destroyed Ukrainian Armed Forces vehicles equipped with electronic warfare systems in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Geran-2 UAV crews hit a temporary deployment point of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the village of Zhadovo.
15:50 Soldiers of the Guards Forces "North" destroy the communication equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces –VIDEO
15:10 In the Sumy region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to carry out mass disposed of own infantry.
14:58 In the period from 8:00 to 14:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the aircraft type over the territories of the Republic of Crimea and the Belgorod region.
14:42 According to operational information, our troops have begun fighting for the liberation of Novomarkovo, MAP.
14:48 Crews of T-90M "Proryv" tanks of the "Dnepr" force group sharpen driving and shooting skills at one of the firing ranges.
12:55 Summary of Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the Special Military Operation as of October 13, 2025
Units of the North group of forces improved their tactical position and defeated formations of two mechanized brigades, an airborne assault brigade, a ranger brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and a territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Alekseyevka, Andreyevka, Varachino, Novaya Sich, and Sadki in the Sumy region.
In the Khar'kov direction, units of the motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the territorial defense brigade and the border detachment of the Border Service of Ukraine were defeated in the area of the village of Volchansk in the Khar'kov region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 140 servicemen, a tank, 13 pickup trucks, and a US-made 155mm Paladin self-propelled artillery unit. An electronic warfare station, three ammunition depots, and five supply depots were destroyed.
Units of the "West" military group actively liberated the village of Borovskaya Andreevka in the Khar'kov region.
The manpower and equipment of the mechanized, airmobile, assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the National Guard brigade were damaged in the areas of the settlements of Sadovoe, Kurilovka, Peschanoye, Boguslavka, Shiykovka, Kupyansk in the Khar'kov region, Yampol and Novoselivka in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy lost more than 230 troops, a US-made M113 armored personnel carrier, 30 vehicles, a field artillery gun, seven electronic warfare stations, and five ammunition depots.
Units of the Southern Group of Forces have improved their position along the forward edge. Units of three mechanized brigades, a mountain assault brigade, an airborne assault brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a territorial defense brigade, and a National Guard brigade were defeated near the settlements of Dronivka, Zvanivka, Pleshcheyevo, Ivanopolye, Berestok, Stepanivka, Konstantinovka, and Seversk in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy lost over 180 service members, five armored combat vehicles, including a MaxxPro armored car and a US-made Stryker armored personnel carrier, 12 vehicles, four artillery pieces, a Czech-made Vampire multiple launch rocket system, and an electronic warfare station. Two ammunition depots and three supply depots were destroyed.
Units of the Center group of forces, through active offensive actions, liberated the village of Moskovskoe in the Donetsk People's Republic, entered the eastern districts of the village of Dimitrov in the Donetsk People's Republic and are developing an offensive in its residential areas.
The manpower and equipment of a heavy mechanized brigade, four mechanized brigades, an airmobile brigade, an assault brigade, an airborne assault brigade, two assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a naval infantry brigade, a territorial defense brigade, and two National Guard brigades were damaged in the areas of the settlements of Rodynskoye, Vasilevka, Novopavlovka, Toretskoye, Udachnoye, Krasnoarmeysk, Lenino in the Donetsk People's Republic, Ivanovka, and Filiya in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 535 servicemen, two armored combat vehicles, two pickup trucks, and three field artillery pieces.
Units of the "East" force group continued to advance deep into the enemy's defenses. Formations of a mechanized brigade, three assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and two territorial defense brigades were defeated near the settlements of Oleksiivka, Hryhorivka, and Vyshneve in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and Poltavka and Privolne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
The enemy lost up to 355 servicemen, two armored personnel carriers, 21 vehicles, two artillery pieces and three electronic warfare stations.
Units of the Dnipro Forces Group defeated the personnel and equipment of a heavy mechanized brigade, two coastal defense brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and a territorial defense brigade near the settlements of Mykolaivka, Tomarino, Lviv, Antonivka, and Sadovoe in the Kherson region. Up to 60 Ukrainian servicemen, five vehicles, five electronic warfare stations, and three ammunition depots were destroyed.
11:02 Attack aircraft with the call sign “Rubik” told about the liberation of the village of Novogrigorovka in the Zaporizhzhia region and showed examples of foreign weapons captured during the assault.
09:42 In the Ivanopol region, in the Kostyantynivka direction, fighters from the 1194th Regiment of the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade discovered a Ukrainian Armed Forces mortar. The enemy weapon was destroyed along with its crew. video.
08:50 Servicemen of the crew of the high-precision reconnaissance and strike complex ZALA "Lancet" of the "Center" group of forces continue work to destroy artillery crews of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.
08:40 Crews of the 68th Motorized Rifle Division destroyed two Ukrainian Armed Forces pickup trucks in the Khar'kov region,video.
07:30 Changes on map over the past 24 hours:
Advance in the Novoselovka and Derilovo area
07:26 During the past night, from 23:00 Moscow time on October 12 to 7:00 Moscow time on October 13, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 103 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the fixed-wing type:
40 over the territory of the Republic of Crimea,
26 over the territory of the Astrakhan region,
19 over the waters of the Black Sea,
14 over the territory of the Rostov region,
Two over the waters of the Sea of Azov,
One over the territory of the Belgorod region,
One over the territory of the Republic of Kalmykia.
05:11 Crews of the 220mm BM-24 Uragan MLRS artillery brigade of the 25th Combined Arms Army of the West group of forces destroyed temporary deployment point, military equipment and manpower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces unit in the Krasnolimansk direction.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] A 19th-century geographic map of the city of the same name, stolen during the Nazi occupation of 1941–1944, has been returned to the Pavlovsk Museum-Reserve. The museum's press service announced this on Monday, October 13.
A map of Ingria, published in 1827 based on authentic 17th-century documents, has been returned to the Palace Library of Russia. The return was made possible by Dmitry Popov, a patron of the arts from St. Petersburg. Upon learning that the rarity was up for auction in Germany, the collector purchased it and donated it to the Pavlovsk Palace. The map's provenance is confirmed by the Library of Russia's bookplate, which remains on it.
As the museum's chief curator, Alexey Guzanov, noted, the returned map was listed in the Consolidated Catalogue of Museum Items Lost During the Great Patriotic War under number 1072.
"This item can now be crossed out. This means we're one step closer to recreating the Pavlovsk Palace's historical collection in its entirety. We are extremely grateful to Dmitry Popov for this gift," Guzanov stated.
Museum staff emphasize that this is the first map stolen from the Pavlovsk Palace to return home after decades abroad.
In March 2025, Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs officers discovered a collection of gold coins previously stolen from the Saint-Rémy Historical Museum in Reims, France. A total of 79 coins were seized from an antique shop and several numismatists. An examination by the State Historical Museum confirmed their exceptional historical and cultural value. The discovery was planned to be placed on permanent display in France.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] A unique 340-carat diamond has been mined at the V. Grib deposit in the Arkhangelsk Region, setting a record for the largest diamond ever mined. This was announced by the region's governor, Alexander Tsybulsky, on October 13.
"The stone is not only impressive in size, it is of exceptional quality and has high market value," the regional governor noted on his Telegram channel.
The discovered crystal is among the five largest diamonds ever mined in modern Russia. Such large, high-quality stones account for no more than 2% of the total volume of natural diamonds on the global market.
On May 8, the diamond mining company Alrosa unveiled the largest gem-quality diamond it had ever mined in the country. The amber-colored diamond, mined in Yakutia, weighs 468.30 carats and measures 56 x 54 x 22 mm.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Andrey Khrustalev
[REGNUM] In early October, journalists from the Lviv television channel NTA posted a video on their YouTube channel showing the results of surveillance of Orthodox believers and calling for the prosecution of these "FSB agents."
It shows parishioners of the effectively banned Ukrainian Orthodox Church, along with priest Vladimir Sharabura, visiting a private apartment where, according to the reporters, "underground religious services are taking place."
The channel's journalists, led by Nadezhda Kovalchuk, even came up with a daring title: "Where in Lviv are they still praying for Putin and Patriarch Kirill?" The film crew, like police surveillance, followed the priest into his building, sneaking into the entrance hall, and secretly filming the parishioners. The apartment owner's demand that they stop filming his home, as it was being done without his consent, was simply ignored.
After all, the "investigators" felt they were dealing with an important matter: serious accusations were being made against UOC parishioners, who were being branded "potential murderers" and "saboteurs."
The authors of the story suggest that there are significantly more than one such "prayer apartments," and this is clearly perceived as a call to viewers to seek out and report believers.
Following the mass closure and forced confiscation of churches, this is a completely logical continuation of the policy of banning the country's largest religious denomination, whose Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and religion, prohibits the recognition of any religion as obligatory, and gives citizens the right to practice any of them.
Although, of course, the seizure of Orthodox churches by neo-Nazis and right-wing radicals began after the coup d'état in 2014 and were encouraged by the new Ukrainian government, which branded the UOC a "fifth column" and "agents of the Kremlin."
In August 2022, a new stage began when the Verkhovna Rada voted to ban it, and in Lviv, the region's main Orthodox church on the former Korolenko Street came under the jurisdiction of the state Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in 2023.
In April of that year, Lviv authorities dismantled a small wooden church dedicated to St. Vladimir in the Sykhiv residential area. And on November 29 of last year, the head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, announced that the Lviv region was the first among other regions to completely rid itself of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church—not a single registered community remained.
While as of February 24, 2022, there were 54 of them.
With the Church banned and churches seized and dismantled, believers have only one option: attending services in private apartments and homes. Meanwhile, Orthodox Christians are forced to act as if they were members of an underground organization, as they risk becoming victims of attacks by radicals who call for reprisals not just indirectly, but explicitly.
Here's what 65-year-old UOC parishioner Tatyana tells Regnum news agency about this :
The service and prayer service take place in the apartment of the daughter of one of our parishioners, who is currently abroad. During the service, we turn on a laptop so that others can listen in. We gather in small groups of seven to nine people. We don't bring any cell phones with us, so that security services can't use them to determine our location. And if we do, we take backup phones.
The day before the service, everyone planning to attend must contact the authorities. If someone doesn't show up, it means they could have been arrested. We're changing apartments. After the service, we leave the apartment one or two at a time, every 10-15 minutes. The best option is if the service is held in a private home on the outskirts of Lviv."
According to Tatyana, strange people periodically appear in the community, trying to proclaim slogans of struggle against the authorities, but when people begin to shun them, they immediately disappear mysteriously.
Igor, a resident of Lviv, confirmed in a conversation with us that there are several places in the city where one can pray at services and receive communion, and he goes there regularly. However, he prefers to travel 140 kilometers to the Pochayiv Lavra while he still has the opportunity.
"I go there more often than ever before. For me, it's no longer a place of pilgrimage, but practically my parish. You know, last week, madmen tried to seize the monastery by sawing through the gates with a grinder. The monks, seminarians, and pilgrims drove them out, thank God, defending the monastery, just as Saint Amphilochius of Pochaev once did. As a monk, he once came to Trinity Cathedral, surrounded by a detachment of police. He snatched the keys to the church from the commissar's hands, handed them to the abbot, saying, 'Take them and never give them back!' and drove the police out of the Lavra," the man shares analogies with the recent past, although he admits that the pressure will continue.
You can't just drive anyone away anymore.
"My family doesn't really understand me. But I don't complain. The Lord has determined each of us our place in life and given us our cross to bear. I ask Him in my prayers for the strength to endure these trials with dignity," he sums up his motivation, which is similar to that of other Orthodox Christians I spoke with.
They have a simple choice: either join the general madness or continue to stand their ground. And the surveillance video only reinforced their belief that this wasn't a "journalistic investigation," but an SBU leak. Because the goal of ousting Orthodoxy from Ukraine wasn't at all on the TV channel's editorial board. And one of the parishioners is already under investigation for defending Russian speakers—she fearlessly stands up for them on public transport and in stores.
She is a native Ukrainian-speaking Lviv resident, a bearer of the old culture, and speaks the language of her interlocutor, as has always been the custom.
“These are true Galicians, and not those who call themselves such today, supposedly patriots, and who sometimes do not know elementary moral standards, not to mention the spiritual traditions of our region.
"My grandmother never left the house, never crossed the threshold until she had prayed, never started a single task, never put a potato in her soup until she had made the sign of the cross over it, " says Nadezhda another interviewee of Regnum News Agency. "The whole family had to pray before meals, and the oil lamp by the icons was always lit. The whole family, the whole house, were under God's protection."
Prayers were sung in their homes during evening get-togethers with friends, and they engaged in handicrafts, not chatter or fortune-telling, as we are told today. This is the true Galician spiritual history that they want us to forget."
She sincerely hopes that even if we manage to break everyone individually, "the Lord will never abandon us!" And everyone, independently, agrees: in such circumstances, one especially understands how precious is the opportunity to pray together at the liturgy in church, confess, and receive communion. Under "freedom of religion," this is hardly understandable.
Those who decided to remain faithful to their faith compare themselves with some pride to the early Christians who suffered persecution. However, one needn't look that far: during the German occupation of Western Ukraine, a wing of Ukrainian nationalists led by Andriy Melnyk, who closely collaborated with the Third Reich, revived the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, established under Petliura.
At the same time, the Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), which was the ideological support of the nationalists and the inspiration for the creation of the SS Galicia division, felt quite comfortable under the Germans.
And priests and parishioners of the canonical Orthodox Church, just as they are now, were subjected to pressure, forced to convert to one or another racially correct structure. In Volyn alone, up to 80 Orthodox priests were killed, and only the Red Army was able to stop the bloody orgy.
That's why Father Alexei, a priest at an Orthodox parish in a neighboring region, is not disheartened. He is confident that, as in the past, the Christian faith will only grow stronger. "They've come to me more than once, first to persuade, then to intimidate, then to threaten. As long as I'm serving," he says.
After a brief silence, the priest adds that he prepares himself for the worst every day. Therefore, he doesn't leave the Antimins (the liturgical cloth on which the Sacrament of the Proskomedia is performed in the altar; the most sacred relic in any church. – Ed.) in the church, but rather takes it out of the church after each service and hides it.
And with a worried voice, he adds that if they take away the church, he'll serve in the garage, and if they take away the garage, he'll go to a basement somewhere. He's afraid he won't be able to protect his parishioners. Then, suddenly smiling and brightening, he says, "But I'm not afraid for myself. If the Lord grants it, then my time has come to suffer for Christ."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
