A total of ten people were injured in the Ukrainian shelling of a recreation center in the city of Melitopol and the center has been fully destroyed, the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional administration Yevgeny Balitsky (Yevhen Balytskyi) said.
On Saturday, air defense systems were activated in the city. Two Ukrainian missiles were shot down, while the rest hit their targets, according to Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the Zaporizhzhia regional administration. Rogov said on Telegram that, according to preliminary data, two people were killed while another two were injured.
"Today, at about 21.00 [18:00 GMT] on the outskirts of Melitopol, artillery strikes were carried out by Ukrainian HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) missiles. Air defense was activated and two missiles were shot down, four reached their target. And the target was the civilian infrastructure of a peaceful city," Balitsky said on Telegram.
He specified that Ukrainian troops made four targeted hits on a cottage district on the outskirts of Melitopol.
"The recreation center was completely destroyed, where people, civilians, were having dinner and staff were on duty on Saturday evening. According to preliminary data, there are two dead, ten injured," Balitsky said.
Meanwhile, the regional health authorities said that at least three people are in critical condition at the Melitopol hospital.
"According to preliminary information, as a result of the shelling of civilian infrastructure in the city of Melitopol, civilians were injured: 2 people were killed, 3 people were wounded," the Zaporizhzhia health department said on Telegram.
On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, signed agreements on the accession of these territories to Russia, following referendums that showed that an overwhelming majority of the local population supported becoming part of Russia.
Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. In response to Russia’s operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.
US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby announced on Friday that the United States was going to provide another $275 million military aid package for Ukraine, which would include ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 80,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition.
