Multiple Assassination Attempts in Pro-Russian Held City of Melitopol, Ukraine

2023.05.13 Sat posted at 17:45 JST

（ＣＮＮ） Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-appointed “governor” of Zaporizhia Oblast in central-south Ukraine, announced on social media by the 13th that an assassination attempt on the head of the court in the city of Melitopol had occurred on the 11th.

The head of the Russian-installed court in charge of the province was not injured, but said two injured guards had been hospitalized.

In addition, an assassination attempt using a homemade device bomb occurred in the city on the morning of the 12th, and a senior official of the state’s construction department was injured. A pro-Russian administration official said a bomb was hidden in a garbage can near the entrance of an apartment building and was detonated when the cadres emerged.

Last year, Russia unilaterally announced its annexation of Zaporizhia Oblast, which remains under Ukrainian control. The city of Melitopol is under Russian military occupation.

But in recent weeks, the city has witnessed multiple assassinations and attempted assassinations targeting key officials who sided with Russia. Last week, a senior police officer in Melitopol was taken to hospital after being wounded in a bomb explosion near the entrance of a residential complex.

Another senior police officer was killed on the 27th of last month after being attacked by a home-made explosive on the doorstep of his apartment building.

Haynes, the director of national intelligence who oversees the U.S. intelligence agencies, testified last year that there was an increase in resistance movements called “partisans” in the occupied southern Ukraine, which attempted to eliminate key pro-Russian figures.