Russian soldiers patrol a street in occupied Melitopol on May 1, 2022. (Getty Images)
A loud explosion has been heard in the village of Zarichne near the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, exiled Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov reported on July 9.
The explosion allegedly happened in a hangar that has been turned into a Russian military base.
Melitopol, which had a pre-war population of about 150,000 people, was occupied shortly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
It serves as a railway hub for the Russian army in southern Ukraine to move military equipment.
Melitopol is also a part of the land bridge that connects Russia to the Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow on Aug. 6 for high-level talks as Trump's deadline for a Ukraine deal draws near.
Despite the reversal of the controversial law that took away Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies' independence, the scandal appears to have damaged the president’s approval.
The order, which takes effect in 21 days, states that India's ongoing direct or indirect importation of Russian crude poses an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security and foreign policy.
According to Deputy Culture Minister Andrii Nadzhos, the process will begin in the village of Yurechkova following a preparatory visit scheduled for mid-August.
As Trump’s deadline for additional sanctions on Russia looms, Robert Person, a professor of international relations specializing in Russian and post-Soviet politics, discusses why Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to end the war against Ukraine in response to the threat — and what might actually motivate him to stop the aggression.
The detainees reportedly include former prisoners deported by Russia after completing their sentences and civilians expelled for opposing Moscow’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
Russia launched 45 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy drones against Ukraine overnight. Thirty-six were intercepted, while nine drones hit three different locations, the Air Force reported.
Conservative historian Karol Nawrocki was inaugurated as Poland's new president in a ceremony on Aug. 6 after securing a narrow election victory in June.
Oleksandr Tsyvinsky takes the reins of the Economic Security Bureau after the government controversially blocked his appointment on July 8, citing his estranged father's Russian citizenship as a security concern.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office has opened a war crimes investigation, marking the third recorded case this year of Russian forces killing civilians in Donetsk Oblast.
