kyiv — Ukraine says “local resistance” fighters have blew up the headquarters of the Russian forces in the occupied town of Melitopol, killing at least three officers, as Kremlin troops continued to launch attacks to the east and south around the battered towns of Bakhmut and Avdiyivka and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that the Winter ahead could be tough.
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“The revenge action carried out by representatives of the local resistance movement took place in the premises (of the post office) seized by the Russians, located on Dmytro Dontsov Street,” said the main intelligence service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Defense. wrote on Telegram about the events of November 11.
He added that the attack was carried out “during a meeting of officers” from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and National Guard.
The report could not immediately be independently verified.
Melitopol – a pre-war town of around 150,000 inhabitants located in the Zaporizhzhya region – was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the full-scale invasion of the Kremlin in February 2022.
In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned citizens to prepare for a tough winter as Russia steps up attacks on crucial energy sites, as it did a year ago.
“We must be prepared for the possibility that the enemy will increase the number of drone or missile strikes on our infrastructure,” Zelenskiy said.
“All our attention must be focused on defense, on responding to terrorists, on everything Ukraine can do to make it easier for our people to get through this winter and to increase the capabilities of our troops,” he said.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces had stepped up attacks in the east of the country as they tried to regain ground near Bakhmut, the devastated town that was the scene of a months-long battle before to fall into Russian hands in May.
General Oleksandr Syrskiy, Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, said that “towards Bakhmut, the Russians have intensified (the attacks) and are trying to reconquer previously lost positions”.
He added that “enemy attacks are being repelled,” without providing details.
Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said Russian forces foiled five Ukrainian attacks near Klishchiyivka, Kurdyumivka and two villages south of Bakhmut over the past day.
Bakhmut has been the epicenter of fighting for months as an ambitious Ukrainian counter-offensive rages on its northern and southern flanks, with Russian forces still controlling the town itself.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s ground forces, Volodymyr Fityo, said in a television appearance that the Russians were “probing the defenses” around Bakhmut in hopes of “attempting to storm” areas under Ukrainian control, but had not achieved “strategic success”.
General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, Ukrainian commander near Avdiyivka, wrote on Telegram that Russian forces were intensifying their airstrikes using guided bombs.
Tarnavskiy added that Russian forces carried out 30 airstrikes and 712 artillery shelling in Avdiyivka and neighboring areas over the past day, as well as around 40 direct attacks against Ukrainian units.
He reported heavy Russian losses in men and equipment, but this report could not be confirmed and there were no details of Ukrainian losses.
Early on November 12, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Produkin, said early in the morning Russian air attack had hit the Honchar regional library in Kherson, a center of scientific learning.
“One of the impacts hit the Honchar regional library. The building is seriously damaged,” he said.
Prokudin said there were no injuries either in the explosion or the ensuing fire.
Russian officials have denied targeting civilians despite near-constant bombing and drone attacks on infrastructure and population centers during the large-scale, 20-month war.