Ukrainian forces have retaken 154 square miles of territory, including 29 settlements, in the Kherson region since Oct. 1, Ukrainian officials reported Thursday.

In a defiant move, the Kremlin held the door open for further land grabs in Ukraine.

Russian troops abandoned a key Ukrainian city so rapidly that they left the bodies of their comrades in the streets.

In their latest breakthrough, Ukrainian forces penetrated Moscow’s defenses in the strategic southern Kherson region, one of the four areas in Ukraine that Russia is trying to grab and desperately defend.

An investigation by The Associated Press and the PBS series “Frontline” has documented a sophisticated Russian-run smuggling operation that has used falsified manifests and seaborne subterfuge to steal Ukrainian grain worth at least $530 million.