- A Ukrainian senior reprimanded Russian soldiers who invaded Melitopol on Friday night, a video shows.
- Russia said it had captured Melitopol and claimed its citizens welcomed the invading troops.
A Ukrainian senior appears to scold Russian soldiers laying siege to a city in southeast
The man, who has not yet been identified, can be seen in the video reprimanding two Russian soldiers in the city of Melitopol in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhya region.
—Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 26, 2022
In the video, according to a translation, the man can be heard saying in Russian: "What the fuck are you doing here?"
He goes on to say: "You have your country. We have ours. Don't you have problems in your own country to solve?"
The footage, circulated on Twitter, Telegram and appears to have originated on TikTok. An army vehicle in the video can be seen with the 'Z' emblem painted on it, as seen on other Russian military vehicles involved in the invasion of Ukraine.
Further up the street, under a sign for Melitopol, a tank and other armored vehicles can be seen.
Russia claims it captured Melitopol on Friday night. The country's defense ministry said that troops were welcomed into the city, having been met with little resistance. "Some elderly citizens took to the streets [waving] red flags," the defense ministry said on Saturday, per the Russian news agency Tass.
The UK disputes this. On Saturday, British armed forces minister James Heappey said that Melitopol remains in Ukrainian hands and that Russian troops have been "held up" by "incredible" Ukrainian resistance.
Russian assaults were also met with fierce resistance in Kyiv overnight, BBC News reported.
There were "heavy battles ongoing" in the Vasylkiv district of Kyiv, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Facebook on Saturday. Russian troops attacked an army base on a main street in Kyiv, the Armed Forces said, but a Ukrainian army unit managed to repel the assault.