Explosive device detonates at central market entrance in Melitopol
A series of five explosions were heard in the city of Kherson, and it was presumably referred to the Russian air defense system working.
An explosive device detonated at the entrance to the central market in the city of Melitopol in the Zaporozhye Region on Wednesday morning, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
The correspondent said the explosion occurred in the early morning, right before the market opens, noting that no casualties were reported and only material damage was recorded.
Melitopol police forensic specialists and a canine team with dogs arrived on the scene, and law enforcement is searching the market and questioning witnesses.
"According to the preliminary assessment, the device was homemade, low-powered, with projectiles. The terrorists continue their attempts to intimidate the population of the city with such provocations," a police officer told Sputnik.
Five explosions heard in Kherson
In a similar context, a Sputnik correspondent also reported that a series of five explosions were heard in the city of Kherson, presumably, the Russian air defense system was working.
According to the correspondent, there were no traces of the work of the anti-missile defense systems in the sky above the city.
Ukrainian broadcaster TSN also reported that a series of explosions were heard in the Mykolaiv region, adding that air raid sirens sounded in several regions on Wednesday morning.
It is noteworthy that last week, the four unification treaties with the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Kherson, and the Zaporozhye Regions were officially signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The agreements were signed by the heads of the four former Ukrainian regions alongside Putin after the referenda on joining the Russian Federation, which have been rejected by Kiev and the West, were held between September 23 and 27.
The United Nations Security Council had condemned the referenda, claiming that they "have no validity" and "cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of these regions," including "any purported annexation."
The new laws, as per the State Duma, dictate that the DPR and LPR will maintain their status as republics, while Zaporozhye and Kherson will continue to be addressed as "regions". Russian will be considered the official language of all the recently accessioned constituents.