By Oyintari Ben
The southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, which is now under Russian control, the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, and Crimea, have all reported multiple explosions, including one near a Russian military barracks.
The explosions in Melitopol occurred as both Russian and Ukrainian officials reported that 20 missiles had struck the Donetsk People’s Republic early on Sunday morning.
Separately, there have been reports of numerous explosions in the Crimean peninsula that Russia has occupied, including at a military base in Sovietske.
Melitopol’s mayor reported multiple explosions, including at a church that was being used by Russian soldiers, while the city’s Moscow-installed administrators said four missiles struck the city, killing two people and injured ten others.
Russia has occupied Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast of Ukraine since the beginning of March.
The missile attack on Melitopol, according to Yevgeny Balitsky, acting governor of Zaporizhzhia, Russia, “totally damaged” a recreation centre where “people, civilians, and [military] base personnel were having dinner on Saturday night.”
Ivan Fedorov, the previous administration of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, confirmed the strikes and claimed they were directed at Russian military installations.
Russian sources said on Sunday morning that Ukrainian missiles had struck a number of apartment complexes in the Donetsk People’s Republic, some of which had fallen close to the Kalinin Hospital and the Opera and Ballet Theatre.
The head of the city administration, Alexei Kulemzin, reported that Ukraine fired 20 Grad missiles into the Voroshilovsky and Kalininsky neighbourhoods at 5:54 a.m. local time on Sunday.
Kulemzin claimed that late Saturday night, at approximately 11:03 p.m. local time, Ukraine shelled the city’s Kyivskiy neighbourhood as well.
Neither a confirmation nor responses to the strike have been made by the Ukrainian military.
