Ukraine expects the U.S. and Germany to deliver sophisticated anti-aircraft systems to Kyiv this month, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Friday.

"There is a U.S. decision to supply us with a very well-known NASAMS system: the first few batches. Our specialists are already being trained. And they will be delivered this month," Reznikov said on Ukrainian television.

He mentioned Ukraine would take delivery of the IRIS-II air defense system from Germany in October.

Ukraine's armed forces have liberated more than 600 settlements from the Russian occupation in the past month, including 75 in the Kherson region, Ukraine's Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporary Occupied Territories said late on Thursday.

Some 502 settlements have been liberated in the northeast Kharkiv region where Ukrainian forces last month advanced deep into Russian lines, the ministry said, adding that 43 settlements were liberated in the Donetsk region and seven in the Luhansk region.

"The area of ​​liberated Ukrainian territories has increased significantly," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

On Thursday, the Russian-appointed governor of Ukraine's Kherson region appealed to residents to evacuate amid fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces. 

"Evacuation from the Kherson Region to our other regions is necessary in order to ensure maximum safety for our people. Our forces on the right bank in Kherson continue to hold back attempts by Ukraine's armed forces to break through the defenses", Andrey Turchak, the first deputy speaker of the Federation Council, secretary of the United Russia party's General Council, said on Friday, according to TASS.

Freedom for Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked Ukraine's Defenders Day holiday on Friday by promising victory over Russia and freedom for Ukraine.

In a video address delivered on hills outside the capital Kyiv, Zelenskyy thanked Ukraine's armed forces for defending their country. He said everything that had been taken away from Ukraine would be returned, and no soldier left in captivity.

"By defeating this enemy, we will respond to all enemies who encroached on Ukraine - on those who lived, who live and who will live on our land. This will be a victory for all our people. This will be a victory for the Armed Forces of Ukraine", Zelenskyy said.

Open to talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia is always open to negotiations, and if Kyiv is ripe for talks, then mediation efforts of those who offer would be required.

He made the remarks at a news conference in the Kazakh capital Astana where he's been attending meetings with regional leaders.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying "we have repeatedly reiterated that we remain open to negotiations to achieve our objectives", in the comments to the Russian newspaper Izvestia on Thursday.

(Cover: Soldiers of Ukraine's fifth Regiment of Assault Infantry react as they fire an automatic grenade launcher towards Russian positions near Toretsk in the Donetsk region, October 12, 2022. /CFP)

(With input from agencies)