The Russian RIA Novosti news agency reports a large explosion in Melitopol, a city in the Zaporizhzhia region that is now occupied by Russia. Vladimir Rogov, who is a member of the new military council imposed on the region told the agency, "Today, at about 7.40 am, a powerful explosion was heard in the very centre of the city. Windows and walls in the houses were trembling. The city centre was filled with black smoke."
"Such attacks will not stop as long as the UGIL (Ukrainian state of Ivano-Frankivsk and Lvov) terrorist entity exists. The Zelenskiy regime hates peaceful life in Melitopol and other liberated territories. Demilitarization and Denazification must be carried out to the end in the entire post-Ukrainian space!" the leader said.
Meanwhile, Russia on 24th February launched its invasion of Ukraine. And, according to the latest updates, Zelenskiy visited troops in Kharkiv and toured the country’s second-largest city to see damage by Russian forces in the Ukrainian president’s first official appearance outside the Kyiv area since the start of the war. However, about 31% of the Kharkiv region’s territory is occupied by Russian forces while 5% has been liberated by Ukrainian defenders, the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration said. Also, Zelenskiy said he has fired the head of the state security service in Kharkiv for not working to defend the city, adding that “law enforcement officers” are now involved. “I came, figured out and fired the head of the security service of Ukraine of the [Kharkiv] region for the fact that he did not work on the defence of the city from the first days of the full-scale war, but thought only about himself,” the president said in his daily national address. “On which motives? The law enforcement officers will figure it out.”