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Ukraine has attacked a barracks within the Russian-occupied metropolis of Melitopol with some Ukrainian sources claiming scores of Russian casualties.
In line with witnesses 10 explosions have been heard, though a few of these could have been from Russian anti-aircraft programs. Ukrainian officers claimed scores of Russian lifeless and injured whereas Russia conceded a handful of casualties.
Video footage posted on social media confirmed what was claimed to be a Russian barracks within the southern metropolis engulfed in a fierce blaze with some claiming the location was being utilized by the Wagner mercenary group.
One other video confirmed rescue employees within the ruins with a number of our bodies seen.
The location, a former resort and lodge complicated subsequent to a church within the metropolis often called the Hunter’s Halt, was getting used as a barracks with many of the casualties apparently in a multitude corridor when it was hit.
The strike on Melitopol – reportedly with Himars rockets – was one in every of a number of in a single day on Russian bases. Explosions have been additionally reported in a single day within the Russian occupied Crimea together with Sevastopol and Simferopol.
The strike on Melitopol got here as all non-critical infrastructure within the Ukrainian port of Odesa was with out energy after Russia used Iranian-made drones on Saturday to hit two power services, leaving 1.5 million individuals lower off from electrical energy.
“The state of affairs within the Odesa area may be very troublesome,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned in his nightly video tackle.
“Sadly, the hits have been vital, so it takes extra than simply time to revive electrical energy … It doesn’t take hours, however a couple of days, sadly.”
In Melitopol the pro-Moscow authorities mentioned a missile assault on Saturday night killed two individuals and injured 10, whereas the exiled Ukrainian mayor mentioned scores of “invaders” have been killed.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the stories of the assaults or deaths.
“Air defence programs destroyed two missiles, 4 reached their targets,” Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-appointed governor of the occupied a part of the Zaporizhzhia area, mentioned on the Telegram messaging app.
He mentioned a “recreation centre” the place individuals have been eating was destroyed within the Ukrainian assault with Himars missiles.
The exiled mayor, Ivan Fedorov, mentioned on his Telegram channel that the assault hit a church that Russians had became a gathering place.
Vladimir Rogov, one other Moscow-installed official within the Russian-controlled a part of Zaporizhzhia, mentioned a hearth attributable to the strike engulfed the recreation centre. He posted a video of a construction in flames.
Himars a number of rocket launchers have been amongst Ukraine’s handiest weapons within the warfare, delivering precision hearth on tons of of targets, together with Russian command posts. On Friday, america mentioned it was sending extra help to Kyiv to strengthen its air defences and defeat drones.
The city of Melitopol is seen as the next major objective for Ukrainian forces in the south of the country since Ukraine retook the major city of Kherson.
With Ukrainian forces now operating on the east bank of the Dnieper River, opposite Kherson, and with their forces now able to place Himars rocket systems on the west bank, Russian forces in the city have come under an increasing threat.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Melitopol, a major industrial and transport centre occupied by Russia since March, was the key to south.
“All logistics linking the Russian forces on the eastern part of the Kherson region and all the way to the Russian border near Mariupol is carried out through it,” Arestovych said in a video interview on social media.
“If Melitopol falls, the entire [Russian] defence line all the way to Kherson collapses. Ukrainian forces gain a direct route to Crimea.”
There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian army about the attacks. Earlier in the day, the central command of Ukraine’s armed forces said it had been conducting strikes on Melitopol.
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