Multiple explosions have been reported in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine and in annexed Crimea, including at a Russian military barracks.
The explosions in Melitopol came amid reports from officials on both sides that Ukraine had launched a missile attack on the city on Saturday.
Melitopol’s Moscow-installed administrators said four missiles hit the city, killing two and injuring 10, while Melitopol’s mayor reported several explosions, including at a church occupied by Russian forces.
Separately, reports also emerged of multiple explosions hitting Russian-annexed Crimea, including at a military barracks in Sovietske.
However, Ukrainian officials have not commented on the explosions in Crimea and CNN is unable to verify the cause of the blasts or the extent of the damage.
Missiles hit Melitopol :
Melitopol, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast, has been under Russian occupation since early March.
Yevgeny Balitsky, Russia’s acting governor of Zaporizhzhia, said the missile attack on Melitopol had “completely destroyed” a recreation center where “people, civilians, and [military] base personnel were having dinner on Saturday night.”
The strikes were acknowledged by Ivan Fedorov, Ukraine’s former administrator of Melitopol city, who said they had targeted Russian military bases.
Federov last month said Russia had turned Melitopol into “one giant military base.”
“The Russian military is settling in local houses they seized, schools and kindergartens. Military equipment is stationed in residential areas,” Federov said in November.
The Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov said there had been several explosions, including at the Melitopol Christian Church, “which the occupiers seized several months ago and turned into their hideout.”
Fedorov, who is not in Melitopol, said there were dead and wounded among the Russian forces there.
Explosions in Crimea :
The attack on Melitopol came amid social media footage and reports of several blasts in the Crimean city of Simferopol at around 9 p.m. local time on Saturday.
There were also reports of explosions in Sevastopol, the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet; at a Russian military barracks in Sovietske; and in Hvardiiske, Dzhankoi and Nyzhniohirskyi
The blasts come after Moscow ramped up its missile attacks on Ukraine last week, following Russian claims that Kyiv was behind recent drone hits on military airfields deep inside its territory.
There are conflicting accounts surrounding the explosions in Crimea.
The unofficial Crimean media portal “Krymskyi veter” said an explosion at a Russian military barracks in Sovietske had set the barracks on fire and there were dead and wounded.
However, a pro-Russian Crimean channel claimed that the fire at the barracks had been caused by “careless handling of fire.”
Two people died. Now all the servicemen, about two hundred people, are accommodated in another premises,” it said.
Sergey Aksenov, the Russian-appointed head of Crimea