Melitopol Mayor reports explosions, says smoke rising above Russian military base.

"Powerful explosions" occurred in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, followed by black smoke blowing over a former factory turned into a Russian military base, exiled Mayor Ivan Fedorov said[1] on May 30. The Avtokolorlyt nonferrous metal plant is located at the southwestern exit from Melitopol in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast. "The occupiers immediately reported "air defense hit," but smoke rises from the ground to the sky," added Fedorov, who is now in Ukrainian-controlled territory and reports based on sources in Melitopol.

He didn't provide any further details on the results of the explosions. Melitopol, a city with a population of about 150,000 people, has been occupied since late February 2022. The city serves as a railway center for Russian forces in southern Ukraine and is part of the land bridge that links Russia to the occupied Crimean peninsula.

Explosions occur regularly in the occupied territories as local Ukrainian partisan movements target occupation authorities, collaborators, and Russian military equipment. Moscow usually blames Ukraine for such incidents, while Kyiv doesn't take responsibility for the explosions. Ukrainian forces have recently started using U.K.-provided Storm Shadow long-range missiles that can reach targets deep into Russian-occupied territories.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said[2] on May 28 that all the Storm Shadow missiles launched by the Ukrainian military to date hit their targets.

Fighting smarter: Ukraine's transformation into a military innovator Before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 27-year-old engineer Maxim Sheremet was engaged in the manufacturing of commercial drones. He worked for the state defense company Ukroboronprom, a strategic manufacturer of weapons and military hardware in Ukraine, and later at Evolve Dynami...

News editor

Dinara Khalilova is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent.

She has previously worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News.

Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master's degree in media and communication from Bournemouth University in the UK.

References

1. ^ said (t.me)
2. ^ said (kyivindependent.com)
3. ^ Fighting smarter: Ukraine's transformation into a military innovatorBefore Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 27-year-old engineer Maxim Sheremet was engaged in the manufacturing of commercial drones.

   He worked for the state defense company Ukroboronprom, a strategic manufacturer of weapons and military hardware in Ukraine, and later at Evolve Dynami... (kyivindependent.com)