Resistance fighters blew up a Russian military headquarters and killed 3 officers in occupied territory, Ukraine says

• Resistance fighters killed at least three Russian national guard officers, Ukraine said.
• They set off an explosion in a meeting between the officers and Russia's security service, it said.

Resistance fighters set off an explosion in a Russian headquarters building that killed at least three national guard officers, Ukrainian intelligence said.

The explosion, in a building in the Russia-occupied city of Melitopol on Saturday, was set off by representatives of a local resistance movement, according to an update from the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine, or GUR, on Sunday.

The attack took place during a meeting between the Rosgvardia, Russia's national guard, and the FSB, Russia's security service, the GUR said.

It called the attack an "act of revenge," according to Reuters' translation.

Russian police responded to the attack. One car was burned near the headquarters, and officers brought it back to their station, the GUR said. It is not clear if the burning happened as a result of the explosion.

Ukraine is also working to see if there were any further Russian casualties, it added.

The building, a former refrigeration engineering plant, had been taken over by Russia, the GUR said.

Ukraine did not identify any individual resistance group as being behind the attack.

But Ukraine has highlighted the work of resistance groups in territory occupied by Russia, typically made up of Ukrainian civilians finding ways to oppose Russian rule over where they live.

Russia declared the formal annexation of Zaporizhzhia, the region of Ukraine that contains Melitopol, alongside three other Ukrainian regions, in September 2022, despite not fully occupying them. The move was condemned and not recognized by most of the world.

Ukrainian resistance fighters have previously claimed to have killed dozens of Russian soldiers by poisoning them.

Another group, in Crimea, the Ukrainian region annexed by Russia in 2014, says it wiretaps apartments and cafes in the area and tries to get Russians to join them.

There are also anti-Russia resistance groups within Russia itself, made up of Russians who oppose President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.

One Russian dissident group, the Liberty of Russia Legion, has taken responsibility for attacks in Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.