- Sam Hancock
- BBC news
Russian-backed authorities in Meltipol released this photo of a fire
The southern region of Ukraine has been affected by both sides during the war, as Russia targeted the city of Odessa with drones, while Ukrainian forces shelled the city of Melitopol.
Ukraine’s military said it shot down 10 drones on Saturday, but five more energy plants have struck, cutting power to 1.5 million people.
Subsequently, the exiled Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol said the Russian-controlled city had suffered a major blow.
Pictures released by a Russian-appointed official show a large fire.
Ukrainian officials said the Russian drone strike on the Ukrainian port of Odessa saw Moscow launch Iranian-made drones on key infrastructure.
“The situation in the Odessa region is very difficult. Unfortunately, the strikes were decisive, so it takes more time to restore electricity. It takes not hours, but a few days,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his video speech night.
Since October, Moscow has targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with waves of missiles and drones.
In Melitopol, pro-Moscow authorities said a rocket attack killed two and wounded 10, while exiled mayor Ivan Fedorov said dozens of “invaders” were killed.
“The air defense systems destroyed two missiles, (while) four achieved their targets,” Yevgeny Paletsky, the Moscow-appointed governor of the occupied part of the Zaporizhia region, said on Telegram.
He added that a “leisure center” where people were eating was destroyed in the Ukrainian HIMARS missile attack.
