Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned against expecting too much success too quickly in Ukraine's counteroffensive as air alerts sounded in Kyiv and other regions late on October 31.
Speaking in his nightly address, Zelenskiy said the world is set up to expect success too quickly, noting that when the full-scale invasion began more than 20 months ago, few believed Ukraine would endure.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
"The colossal things done by our people, by our soldiers are now taken for granted.... No matter what, we have to do our part, defend our state, [our] Ukrainian independence," he said.
There has been little movement along the 1,000-kilometer front line in recent months despite the counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces launched in June. Zelenskiy has previously rejected criticism of the slow progress, saying the war was not akin to a Hollywood movie set.
A meeting of senior commanders on October 31 discussed areas engulfed by the fiercest fighting in the east and northeast, including Avdiyivka, where Russian forces have been on the offensive in recent weeks.
Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiyivka's military administration, said Avdiyivka is bracing for a new wave of attacks.
"The enemy is bringing in forces and equipment. Our boys are preparing for a new wave," Barabash told national television.
Volodymyr Fityo, a spokesman for Ukraine's ground forces, said Russian troops were also focused on Kupyansk -- a city in the northeast overrun by Russian forces in the early days of the invasion but recaptured by Ukraine last year.
"Our defense forces continue to repel enemy attacks in the Kupyansk sector," Fityo told a briefing.
Russian accounts of the fighting on October 31 said Moscow's forces had conducted successful attacks near the town of Bakhmut.
The governor of the Cherkasy region warned earlier about the threat of the use of attack drones by Russian troops as air defense systems were activated in the Cherkasy region and as air alerts sounded in Kyiv and other regions. The Ukrainian Air Force also warned about the threat of incoming ballistic weapons.
The Ukrainian military said two Shahed drones were destroyed before 8 p.m. local time in the Dnipro and Kryvorizka districts of the Dnipropetrovsk region, one of Ukraine's steelmaking hubs. Russian troops regularly bombard the region with various types of weapons. Moscow denies it attacks civilians in Ukraine.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its evening summary on October 31 that Russian troops supported by aircraft conducted unsuccessful assaults in the areas of Avdiyivka, Pervomaiske, and other towns nearby.
Ukrainian forces repelled 15 Russian attacks in this area, the General Staff said.
According to the summary, in the area near Bakhmut, Russian troops tried unsuccessfully to restore lost positions near Klishchiyivka and Andriyivka.
The General Staff also reported on unsuccessful assaults by the enemy in Maryinka and Novomykhailivka. In the Zaporizhzhya region, Russian troops unsuccessfully tried to restore positions they lost near Robotyne, the headquarters of the General Staff reported.
The Ukrainian forces continue offensive operations in the Melitopol area and assault operations in the Bakhmut direction, the summary said.
Russian-installed officials in Donetsk said Ukrainian troops fired multiple launch rocket and artillery systems at Donetsk on the evening of October 31, killing two civilians and wounding seven, TASS reported. The city came under shelling five times in the evening, the Russian-installed officials said, adding that cluster munitions were used.
Three journalists with Russia’s Izvestia media company were hospitalized following the shelling of Donetsk, Izvestia said on Telegram.
It was not possible for RFE/RL to verify reports from the battlefield.