Mayor: 'Hundreds' of Russian soldiers may have been killed in Ukrainian strike on occupied Melitopol

Exiled Mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov said in an interview on TV on March 5 that two powerful explosions were heard in the northern part of the occupied city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, possibly killing hundreds of Russian soldiers stationed in the city.

"In occupied Melitopol, powerful explosions are heard, two enemy bases were destroyed," Fedorov said.

According to the mayor, Russian losses as a result of the strike "amount to hundreds of people, but the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will provide more detailed information."

“Today is a weekend of hell for them, just like the whole last week of hell,” Fedorov also said.

The city of Melitopol, with a pre-war population of 150,000 people, was occupied on Feb. 26 of last year, just two days after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Since November last year, Russian soldiers arriving from recently liberated parts of Kherson Oblast and the city of Tokmak in Zaporizhzhia Oblast have turned Melitopol into a military base.