Russian attack | Ukraine attacked Melitopol, the collapse of which would bring down “the entire defense line up to Kherson”

Foreign countries|Russian invasion

Ukrainian is said to have hit Russian targets in the city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine on Saturday evening, news agencies, a British newspaper The Guardian and the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC.

The Guardian reports that ten explosions were heard in the city on Saturday evening, according to eyewitnesses. Some may, however, come from Russian anti-aircraft missiles.

In the videos seen by The Guardian, a building called Hunter’s Halt, which used to be a hotel, is burning. The building is said to have been used by Russia to house its soldiers after it seized Melitopol from Ukraine in the early stages of the war.

Melitopol belongs to the administrative region of Zaporizhia, the southern part of which has been under Russian control since the beginning of the war. Melitopol is the second largest city in the Zaporizhia region in terms of population.

I know The attack on Melitopol has also been confirmed by the city’s original mayor Ivan Fedorov, who has been banished from the city. According to Fedorov, Ukraine hit a local church located next to the Hunter’s Halt building.

Fedorov said that the Russians have used the church as a meeting place. According to him, “infiltrators” have been killed in the attacks.

Russian sources have also told about the attack on Melitopol. According to information provided by Russia, two were killed and ten injured in the attacks. Russia says its anti-aircraft system prevented some of the projectiles from hitting their targets.

The media have not been able to confirm information about the number of victims from independent sources. As of Sunday afternoon, neither the Ukrainian Defense Forces nor the top leadership had commented on the allegation of attacks on Melitopol.

from Ukraine according to the information received, Ukraine would have used Himars rocket launchers in the attacks, reports The Guardian.

In recent months, Ukraine has managed to effectively use Himars launchers in its counter-attacks. On Friday, the United States said it would send more anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine.

On the night between Saturday and Sunday, Russia also reported smaller explosions in Crimea.

Russia, on the other hand, succeeded in causing serious damage with its missile strikes on the port city of Odessa in southern Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian military, five missiles hit the city’s energy facilities, leaving most of the city without electricity on Sunday.

“The situation in Odessa is very difficult. Unfortunately, the hits were so critical that it will take a lot of resources from us to restore the electricity to the city. It doesn’t just take hours, it takes days,” the president Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in a speech on Saturday.

Melitopol is likely targeted by Ukraine because Ukraine believes Russia will be in trouble in southern Ukraine if Russia loses control of the city. This was pointed out by Zelenskyi’s adviser It would be Arestovych in an interview published on social media, according to the Reuters news agency.

“All the logistics of the Russian forces from the eastern part of the Kherson region all the way to the Russian border to Mariupol pass through it,” Arestovych said.

“If Melitopol falls, the entire defense line up to Kherson will collapse. Ukrainian troops will get a direct route to Crimea.”