Reports from several international news outlets have confirmed that Ukraine military forces have conducted a series of drone strikes in Southern Ukraine’s Melitopol, currently annexed by Russian forces this week, the targeted area is a critical supply line to Crimea and is a potential prime target for Ukraine’s offence.

The news of the event was confirmed with both involved parties, Melitopol’s now exiled mayor Ivan Fedorov shared that a Russian base near an airfield was damaged in the operation. The U.S.-supplied M142 High Mobility Artillery System or Himars were used for the operation and Russian Occupation forces claimed to have shot down six missiles from Himars apart from the ones that caused the destruction.

Western military analysts think that Russian anti-air defence systems are incapable of countering future attacks using Himar missiles, as the latest attack proves.

The strikes were the third occasion in recent days where Ukrainian or pro-Ukrainian forces have retaliated. On Wednesday(April 5, 2023), explosions occurred in the vicinity of a train depot and a military airstrip, Mr Fedorov said. Two days preceding the aforementioned attack, Russian-installed official Maksym Zubarev was also seriously wounded in an apparent car bomb attack in the city.

Kyiv didn’t claim “responsibility”, but has positively affirmed on several occasions the involvement of Ukrainian partisans, working in Russian-occupied areas.