Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on October 4 visited the northeastern Sumy region and spoke with military commanders and soldiers who have fought along Ukraine's border with Russia and in Russia's Kursk region.
Sumy is where Ukraine launched its surprise incursion into the Kursk region nearly two months ago, and Zelenskiy stressed that the operation was "strategic" to motivate Kyiv's partners to "be more decisive and put pressure on Russia."
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Ukrainian forces reportedly captured around 1,300 square kilometers of Russian territory in the Kursk region. Though the pace of the incursion has slowed, Zelenskiy said it had "greatly helped" Kyiv to secure the latest military support packages from the West.
"We need to motivate the whole world and convince them that Ukrainians can be stronger than the enemy," he told soldiers with the the 82nd Air Assault Brigade
Zelenskiy also stressed the importance of protecting Ukraine's energy infrastructure and said there would be separate meetings on the Sumy region's energy infrastructure and that of other border regions.
Military and regional officials reported earlier on October 4 that Russian shelling killed at least three civilians in four Ukrainian regions.
In Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk, two residents were killed and two others were wounded during Russia's bombardment of Stara Mykolayivka and Kreminnaya Balka, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.
In the southern region of Kherson, one person was killed and four others were wounded as the Russian military shelled 14 settlements over the past 24 hours, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.
"The Russian military targeted critical infrastructure as well as residential and communal communications; residential areas sustained damage; 35 private homes were destroyed," Prokudin wrote on Telegram, adding that farm buildings, warehouses, buses, agricultural machinery, and vehicles were also damaged.
Ukraine's air force, meanwhile, reported that Russia launched 19 drones at targets in Ukraine, with nine of them being shot down by Ukrainian air-defense systems over four regions -- Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, and Kherson.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian military reported 79 combat clashes at the front and said the most intense were in the Kharkiv region. Two clashes were ongoing, the General Staff said in its evening assessment on October 4.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike set a large oil depot on fire in Russia's southwestern Voronezh region early on October 4, regional Governor Aleksandr Gusev reported on Telegram.
Gusev said the fire was ignited by the debris of a falling drone that had been downed by Russian air-defense systems above the depot located in the region's Anninsky district.
"An empty tank caught fire. According to preliminary information, there are no casualties. Fire crews are working on the scene," Gusev wrote.
SEE ALSO: The Week In Russia: 'So Many Red Lines'Russian Telegram channels published videos purporting to show a fire at the site of the drone crash. Telegram channel Astra, citing local residents, said that the Annanefteprodukt oil depot had been hit.
Separately, Ukraine's military confirmed the strike in a statement.
"An attack was launched on the Annanefteprodukt storage base for fuel and lubricants located near the settlement of Anna in Voronezh region," the military said, adding that Russian antiaircraft opened fire on the incoming drones.
At least one of the storage tanks was hit and set on fire, the military said.