Russia claims explosion heard in Russian-occupied Melitopol
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO – SUNDAY, 12 JUNE 2022, 19:34
There has been an explosion near the premises of the so-called Ministry of Internal Affairs in Russian-occupied Melitopol, in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Source: RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency, citing Aleksey Selivanov, the Russian-appointed "deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs" in Melitopol; RIA Melitopol, a Melitopol-based publication; Ivan Fedorov, Mayor of Melitopol, on Facebook
Details: According to the Russian occupation administration in Melitopol, two civilians sustained injuries as a result of the explosion. All "police officers and military personnel" are said to be unharmed.
"The explosive device was placed in a rubbish bin near the State Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs," Selivanov said.
According to Vladimir Rogov, a member of the "main council of the military-civil administration of the region," the explosive device contained the equivalent of 700-800 grams of TNT.
RIA Melitopol, a local news agency, reported that the explosion took place at 38 Kirov Street, near a tank.
"The entire territory of the pension fund premises – all the way to the tank and Krupska Street – is currently encircled by armoured personnel carriers and KamAZ military trucks. They [Russian troops] are inspecting cars and searching suspicious persons," RIA Melitopol reports.
Later, Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, said in a comment about the explosion that the Russian occupying forces "are blowing each other up."
Quote from Fedorov: "If this is a question about the explosion that took place 20 minutes ago in the city of Melitopol, I don’t know anything about it. You would have to ask the Ruscists, who are blowing each other up and will obviously blame it [the explosion - ed.] on the Ukrainian Armed Forces. But we understand, perfectly well, that this is [part of] their tactics, their method."
