Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov claimed that there were overnight strikes that affected the city as well as the nearby village of Myrni. In a Sunday, August 28 Telegram post, translated from Ukrainian to English via Google, Fedorov said: “Another explosive night in Melitopol and Myrni village of Melitopol region. At 1 o’clock residents of all areas they heard loud explosions. “The first of them was so powerful that windows in some houses shook and plaster fell. We are waiting for confirmation that the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed another base of the invaders with jewel-like precision strikes. The enemy will never be peaceful in our land .” In a briefing, Fedorov said one of the buildings destroyed in Myrne was where “a mock referendum was being held.” He added: “In Melitopolis, one of the largest enemy bases was destroyed on the territory of the Aktovolorlit factory.” Newsweek was unable to independently verify the claims. Russian servicemen stand guard in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, on July 14, 2022, amid ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine. Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov said explosions rocked the city. OLGA MALTSEVA/GETTY Both Melitopol and Myrne are located in the occupied Zaporizhzhya region, which is part of the land corridor connecting the separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk to the Crimean peninsula. The Kremlin first claimed to have captured Melitopolis in February. It was the first major city occupied by Russia since the outbreak of the war with Ukraine. Fedorov recently told Newsweek that HIMARS [High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems] had helped Ukrainian forces put pressure on the Russian military. After a reported attack that killed more than 100 Russian soldiers, Fedorov said the missile systems had tipped the balance of war in Ukraine’s favor. He said: “Tonight is the most effective and shows that existing enemy air defense units are no longer able to counter HIMARS. “The weakening of the air defense system creates the necessary conditions for a successful counterattack in the direction of Melitopolis.” Fedorov later added: “They [Russian soldiers] they don’t want to make war. They don’t want to stay in Melitopolis.” Newsweek has reached out to the Kremlin and Fedorov for comment. Russian President Vladimir Putin has seemingly shifted the focus of the Russian war, after forces failed to capture Kyiv after the war broke out. Now, Russian forces have refocused their efforts on eastern Ukraine with the intention of linking the separatist regions with Crimea. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the peninsula was physically cut off from the rest of the country. However, Ukraine has made it clear on several occasions that it will not accept any of its territory being transferred to Russia. Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the war must end with the liberation of Crimea. According to the BBC, after several explosions in the region, Zelensky said: “Crimea is Ukrainian and we will never leave it.”
