One day before a contentious vote on joining Russia is scheduled to take place, three troops, according to Ukrainian officials, were killed in the explosion.
In Melitopol, a city in southeast Ukraine, there was an explosion that damaged a busy market. Russian and Ukrainian authorities who have been deployed there have traded accusations.
One of the first Ukrainian cities to come under Russian control during Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February was Melitopol, which is located in the Zaporizhia region.
Pro-Moscow regional authorities in the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia declared referendums on joining Russia in an apparent concerted action. The procedure has been criticised by Ukraine and its Western allies as a charade devoid of any legitimacy. It will take place between September 23 and September 27 under military occupation without any outside scrutiny.
The exiled mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said that the explosion was set on purpose by the occupying Russian forces in order to charge Ukraine with “terrorist.”
