Ukrainian air strikes hit Russian barracks in occupied Melitopol with US-supplied HIMARS, reports say

• Ukraine launched a missile attack on the occupied city of Melitopol, Ukrainian and pro-Kremlin authorities said.
• Pro-Russian authorities said that the attack killed two people and injured 10.

Ukraine launched missile attacks on Russian barracks in the occupied city of Melitopol on Saturday evening, The Guardian reported.

Multiple explosions were reported in the southern city, with both Melitopol's exiled mayor and the Russian-installed authorities confirming the strikes took place, per Reuters.

The pro-Russian authorities said that the attack killed two people and injured 10. The exiled mayor Ivan Fedorov claimed on Telegram that an estimated 200 "occupiers" were killed in the attack, which reportedly used US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).

Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russia-installed head of the Zaporizhzhia region, also said that HIMARS struck Melitopol, per the Kyiv Post.

"Air defense systems destroyed two missiles, four reached their targets," Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-appointed governor of the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, said on Telegram.

Different reports gave slightly different descriptions of the site that was struck by the missiles.

The Moscow-appointed Zaporizhzhia governor said that the missiles struck and destroyed a "recreation center" where people were dining.

The Ukrainian exiled mayor said on his Telegram channel that the attack hit a church that Russians had turned into a gathering place.

According to The Guardian, the missiles struck a former resort and hotel complex next to a church which was reportedly being used as Russian barracks.

Videos posted on social media appear to show the site engulfed in flames, and rescue workers on the devastating scene with dead and wounded men scattered amid the carnage.

Many on social media claimed that the site was being used by the notorious Wagner Group. Insider could not independently verify the reports.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukraine's president, said that the strategic city of Melitopol is key to defending the south of the country.

"All logistics linking the Russian forces on the eastern part of the Kherson region and all the way to the Russian border near Mariupol is carried out through it," he said, according to Sky News.

"If Melitopol falls, the entire defense line all the way to Kherson collapses. Ukrainian forces gain a direct route to Crimea."

Federov last month said Russia had turned Melitopol into "one giant military base," per CNN.

The Ukrainian attacks on Melitopol come amid a fresh wave of attacks across the country from both sides.

Russia used deadly Iranian-made drones to strike key energy infrastructure in Odesa, leaving more than 1.5 million people without electricity, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Russian state media also reported that 20 missiles hit the Donetsk People's Republic on Sunday morning, according to CNN.

There were also reports of a lethal fire at a barracks in Crimea and explosions at the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet.