Russian officers killed in ‘act of revenge’ in occupied Ukrainian city

Ukraine intensifying attacks against Russian high-profile assets in occupied regions, says think-tank

Three Russian officers have been killed in an “act of revenge” in an occupied Ukrainian city, said Kyiv’s intelligence officials.

A blast struck a Saturday meeting attended by Russian National Guard and FSB intelligence service officers in occupied Melitopol, said the Ukrainian intelligence’s main unit.

“This act of revenge, carried out by representatives of the local resistance movement, took place in the (post) offices seized by the Russians,” the Ukrainian defence ministry’s intelligence department said on Sunday.

Russian forces have established their headquarters in Melitopol, a city in southwestern Ukraine that was captured in the early days of the war.

“As a result of the explosion at least three National Guard officers were killed at the headquarters,” officials said.

It said information of any other Russian losses is being verified. Russia’s defence ministry has not commented on the deaths, the identities of the deceased officers or the attack on its headquarters.

Melitopol is among territories Russia captured in the Zaporizhzhia region along with several settlements in the besieged east and south.

Ukraine has launched several attacks in these areas in efforts to recapture them.

Melitopol had a pre-war population of nearly 150,000, and currently serves as a key location to Moscow’s defence of lands it now controls in Ukraine’s south.

“The enemy does not learn anything and continues to organise its headquarters there,” Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, told Ukrainian public television.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think-tank tracking the war in Europe, said in its latest assessment that Kyiv appears to be intensifying attacks against Russian military, logistics and other high-profile assets.

These attacks are focused on captured areas in Ukraine and also in Russian territory, it said.

Three rear-area strikes and partisan attacks were carried out in Russia on 11 November, according to the think-tank.

A “Ukrainian partisan attack” took place against a former Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) People’s Militia head last week, the ISW said.

It also said strikes occurred against a Russian military base in occupied Skadovsk, Kherson Oblast and Black Sea Fleet assets in Crimea on 9 November.

It said Ukrainian forces have conducted a strike campaign specifically targeting occupied Crimea since summer 2023.

Kyiv said retaking Melitopol will open a route to the Crimean peninsula for Ukrainian forces.