Ukraine steps up attack on Melitopol to cut Crimea supply line

Meanwhile, Russian forces are reportedly laying mines along the front line around Melitopol.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Ukraine has in recent days stepped up attacks on Melitopol, a strategic Russian-controlled city in southern Ukraine that lies on a key supply route to Crimea and is a potential prime target for Kiev's expected spring counteroffensive.

The Ukrainian-appointed mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said a Russian base near the city's airport had come under attack.

Meanwhile, the Moscow-appointed authorities in Melitopol claimed that their air defenses shot down six missiles launched by the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). Western military analysts had previously said that the HIMARS missiles could not be intercepted by Russian systems.

The attacks were the third Ukrainian air strikes on Melitopol in recent days. On April 5, there were explosions in the vicinity of a train station and a military runway, Mr. Fedorov said.

Two days earlier, Russian-appointed official Maksym Zubarev was seriously injured in a car bomb attack in Melitopol. Kiev has not claimed responsibility, but has repeatedly claimed that Ukrainian resistance members are operating in Russian-controlled areas.

Ukraine steps up attack on Melitopol to cut Crimea supply line - 2 — Ukrainian soldiers in trenches near Bakhmut. (Photo: Reuters)

Russian forces seized Melitopol in the early days of the conflict, creating a land "bridge" connecting areas under their control in Ukraine with the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

The timing and targets of Kiev's planned military offensive remain closely guarded, but analysts say a southward push towards Melitopol would be strategically significant as it could break Russia's land "bridge" and restore Ukraine's access to the Sea of Azov.

From the northern shore of the Sea of Azov, Ukrainian forces could attack the Kerch Strait Bridge, which Russia opened in 2018 to connect the mainland with Crimea. The bridge suffered a major structural damage from an explosion last October that hampered Moscow’s access to Crimea. Russian crews are still working to repair the bridge.

Melitopol is a gateway to the Crimean Peninsula. This week, Mr. Fedorov said Russian forces were laying mines along the frontline around Melitopol, in the Zaporizhzhia region, in preparation for a possible Ukrainian counterattack on the city.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said on April 6 that it was investigating the appearance of classified US government documents about the conflict in Ukraine on social media platforms.

“We are aware of the social media posts and the Department is looking into the matter,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement.

The incident occurred as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Poland on April 5 in an effort to continue urging Western allies to provide military and financial support.

Ukraine steps up attack on Melitopol to cut Crimea supply line - 3 — The Crimea bridge was damaged in a bombing late last year. (Photo: Getty Images)

A new assessment by the United Nations and the World Bank estimates the cost of damage from Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure at more than $10 billion. The largest share of the damage was to the power sector – nearly $6.5 billion – while damage to nuclear plants amounted to about $770 million. Emergency repairs are estimated at $1.2 billion.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are fighting to stop Russia from advancing further into the country’s east. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russian attacks remained focused on the cities of Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka.

Ukrainian forces, after a series of victories last year, have been on the defensive in recent months, with Russia making limited advances despite mobilizing an additional 300,000 troops last fall.

After months of grueling fighting in and around Bakhmut, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group private military group, said earlier this week that he had raised the Russian flag near the city’s city hall. According to Prigozhin, Ukrainian forces are still present west of Bakhmut.

On April 6, Mr. Prigozhin continued to say that Ukrainian forces had not yet withdrawn from Bakhmut and that they had organized defenses in the western areas of the city.

Ukraine steps up attack on Melitopol to cut Crimea supply line - 4 — Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut. (Photo: RFE)

“We must make it clear that the enemy is not going anywhere,” Prigozhin said, adding that Russian forces were facing a number of problems, including ammunition supply, flank protection and command structure organization.

Bakhmut, a coal mining center in Ukraine's Donetsk region, has become a key battleground in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Moscow sees the capture of the city as essential, while Ukrainian forces have held out for more than six months. Military analysts say the ferocity of the fighting has left much of the city in ruins, turning it into a symbol of trench warfare.

Ukrainian commanders explained that their efforts to defend Bakhmut were intended to wear down Russian forces, thereby allowing Ukrainian forces to push forward their offensive elsewhere in the country.

The Russian defense minister said the city was a key defense hub for Ukraine and its capture would allow Russian forces to continue advancing into the wider eastern Donbass region.

(Source: Tin Tuc Newspaper)

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