Ukrainian forces destroyed a railway depot and cut off the power in a Russian-occupied city behind the front lines. The assault follows speculation of another counteroffensive by Ukraine against Russian forces.
Images on social media showed explosions in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol on Wednesday. Melitopol is the base of the Russian-controlled administration in Zaporizhzhia, one of the five Ukrainian territories Moscow claims to have annexed in the war. The exiled Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol confirmed the explosions, and Russian state-owned news outlet TASS reported that a railway depot was damaged and the power was cut off in the city and nearby villages, according to Russian-installed officials.
Melitopol served as a railway logistics hub for Russian forces in southern Ukraine and is part of the land bridge that connected Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula. There was also no public information available regarding what Ukrainian forces may have used to strike the city as Melitopol is at the far edge of the range of Ukraine’s HIMARS rockets and within reach of newer weapons Kyiv is said to be deploying.
The strike could potentially hinder Russia’s rear logistics at a time when Ukraine has hinted that it may carry out a counteroffensive against Russian forces that have failed to make territorial gains in its months-long offensive. Ukrainian forces have also maintained their defensive positions since their last big advance. Moscow has also launched a winter offensive with thousands of reserve troops and convicts recruited by the Russian Wagner mercenary group.
As the season is changing, there have been clear signs that Russia is failing in its assault, with Ukraine’s general staff reporting a decline in the average number of daily Russian attacks for four consecutive weeks. From 124 attacks from March 1 to 7 to 69, and by Wednesday, only 57 attacks were reported.
On the same day, the Swedish foreign ministry said it will summoning the Russian ambassador to formally complain about a possible attempt by Moscow to interfere with Stockholm’s application to the NATO alliance. This follows the ambassador’s comments on the Russian embassy’s website that Sweden joining NATO would make it and Finland become “a legitimate target for Russian retaliatory measures, including those of a military nature.”
Sweden and Finland jointly applied for NATO membership last year as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.