Both warring parties have launched attacks against the southern region of Ukraine, with Russia flying drones at Odesa and Ukraine fighting back near Melitopol.
The Ukrainian army said it shot down 10 drones on Saturday but another five had struck energy installations, leaving around 1.5 million people without power.
Later, the exiled mayor of Melitopol said that a Ukrainian strike had been conducted against the city under Russian control.
A Moscow-appointed official posted images of a massive fire.
According to Ukrainian officials, during Russia’s drone strike on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, Moscow fired Iranian-made drones at crucial infrastructure.
In his nightly video message, President Volodymyr Zelensky declared, “The situation in the Odessa region is challenging.” “Unfortunately, the damage was severe, so it will take more than time to restore power. Rather than hours, it takes several days.”
Moscow has targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with major waves of missile and drone strikes since October.
Pro-Russian officials in Melitopol reported that a Ukrainian missile attack had killed two and injured ten.
“Air defense systems destroyed two missiles, while four hit their targets,” stated Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russia-appointed governor of the seized portion of the Zaporizhzhia province, via the Telegram messaging app.
He stated that the attack had destroyed a “recreation center” where people were dining and that Ukrainian forces had utilized US-supplied Himars rocket launchers.
This weapon played a crucial part in Ukraine’s counteroffensive, as it was utilized to target out-of-the-way areas, such as Russia’s command posts.
Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, stated that dozens of “invaders” had been slaughtered.
Melitopol has been occupied by the Russian military since early March and serves as a vital supplies base for the southeast.
The city is strategically placed in the Zaporizhzhia region between Mariupol to the east, Kherson and the Dnieper River to the west, and Crimea to the south.
Despite the onset of winter, Ukraine maintains its efforts to reclaim occupied land.
In recent weeks, the majority of combat has occurred in the country’s east, specifically in and around the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk area.
But on Saturday night, President Zelensky’s adviser Oleksiy Arestovych hinted that Melitopol could be a primary target for Ukrainian forces.
In an interview, he stated, “If Melitopol falls, the entire defense line to Kherson crumbles.”
If that were to occur, he continued, “Ukrainian forces would acquire a direct passage to Crimea,” the peninsula Russia occupied and annexed in 2014 and which the Ukrainians have sworn to recapture.
