Ukrainian strike hits Russian-occupied MelitopolRussian forces seized Melitopol, pictured in October 2022, in the beginning of the offensive which began on February 24KYIV (UKRAINE) - Ukraine attacked the Russian-occupied southern city of Melitopol on Saturday evening, the Kremlin-installed local authorities and Ukrainian officials said. The strategically located city, which had a pre-war population of just over 150,000 people, is located in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia that Moscow claims to have annexed. Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russia-installed head of Zaporizhzhia region, said that using US-supplied HIMARS long-range rocket launchers, Ukrainian troops struck Melitopol at around 9:00 pm Saturday. Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, said for his part that Ukrainian forces hit Russian troops in Melitopol and that dozens of "invaders" had been killed. Russian forces seized Melitopol in the beginning of the offensive which began on February 24.
