According to the governor-in-exile of eastern
Ukraine's Luhansk, Ukrainian soldiers have attacked the headquarters of
Russia's Wagner mercenary outfit.
Serhiy Haidai said that a hotel in Kadiivka, Luhansk,
where the group convened had suffered significant damages.
Wagner's attendance at the hotel was unable to be
independently confirmed by the BBC.
Over the weekend, fighting also erupted in southern
Ukraine, with Ukraine shelling a target in the seized city of Melitopol while
Russia targeted Odesa.
Western analysts claim that Wagner are
state-sponsored mercenaries who serve the Kremlin.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former restaurateur and close
friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, founded the private military firm,
which has been regularly accused of war crimes and violations of human rights.
Previous deployments of Wagner units included the
Central African Republic, Mali, Libya, Syria, the Crimea, and Syria.
Mr. Haidai said that Russia had suffered "major
losses" in the Kadiivka attack and predicted that "at least 50%"
of the remaining fighters would perish from a lack of medical care.
US President Joe Biden stated that Washington was
giving efforts to strengthen Ukraine's air defence systems a high priority
during a phone chat with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to the White House, the two also discussed
Mr. Zelensky's desire for a "fair peace" with Russia "based on
basic values entrenched in the UN Charter."
Further combat broke out in southern Ukraine at the
same time as the attack on the "Wagner HQ" in the east.
The Ukrainian army said on Saturday that it had shot
down 10 drones, five of which had attacked energy facilities in the port city
of Odesa, knocking out electricity for 1.5 million people.
President Zelensky declared in his nightly video
message that "the situation in the Odesa area is quite challenging."
"Unfortunately, the damage was severe, and it will take more than simply
time to restore power. It takes a few days, not hours."
According to Ukrainian officials, Russian drones
built in Iran attacked critical infrastructure.
Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany, will preside
over a G7 leaders' online conference on Monday to consider more penalties
against Iran and Russia.
The proposed actions would target Iran for providing
drones to Russia, while the ninth batch of Russian penalties would add over 200
additional people to the EU's list of sanctioned parties.
Pro-Moscow officials in Melitopol reported that a
Ukrainian missile assault left two persons dead and 10 wounded. A large fire
was visible in pictures posted by a Moscow-installed official there.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the city's newly installed Russian
governor, stated on the messaging app Telegram that "two missiles were
destroyed by air defence systems, while four others reached their
objectives."
He stated that Ukrainian soldiers had employed
Himars rocket launchers provided by the US and that the operation had damaged a
"recreation centre" where people were dining.
The counteroffensive by Ukraine has been greatly
aided by the employment of this weapon, which has been employed to target areas
away from the front lines, such as Russia's command centres.
The exiled mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, claimed
that several "invaders" had been slain.
Since the beginning of March, Melitopol has been
occupied and has become a key logistical base for the Russian forces in the
southeast.
Strategically situated between Mariupol to the east,
Kherson and the Dnipro River to the west, and Crimea to the south, the city
lies in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Winter has arrived, but according to Ukraine, its
operations to recover seized land are still ongoing.
Most of the fighting in recent weeks has occurred in
the country's east, particularly in the area of the Donetsk region's city of
Bakhmut.
In an interview, he stated, "If Melitopol
falls, the entire defence line all the way to Kherson crumbles."
"Ukrainian forces would acquire a direct
approach to Crimea," the peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014 and that
the Ukrainians have sworn to recapture, he continued.
However, on Saturday night, President Zelensky's
advisor Oleksiy Arestovych suggested that Melitopol may be a key location for
Ukrainian forces.
Donetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine that is seized by
Russia, experienced further shelling on Sunday. Firefighters were seen battling
a fire at a business structure in images.
Throughout the conflict, Ukraine has repeatedly
denied striking the separatist-controlled city.