Ukrainian officials said Thursday that several explosions occurred in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol, a supply hub and support base for Moscow forces, CNN reported.

Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said that three explosions took place on Thursday. An official who is not in Mariupol, but has contacts there, said that two shots rang out in the area of ​​the metallurgical plant, News.ro quoted.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine struck the strongholds of the occupiers with surgical precision,” he said in Telegram.

“There is a third explosion, it was a strike near the airport. Again. We are completing the work,” he added.

The adviser also reported that Russian planes flew over the city on Thursday at several points. According to some videos circulating on social media, as well as unofficial reports, several explosions have been heard in the city over the past two nights.

It is unclear what caused the explosions and how many of them may have been from Russian air defenses operating in the area. Mariupol is outside the range of the Western-supplied missile systems and howitzers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, CNN states.

HAS UKRAINE PRODUCED ITS MISSILE SYSTEM?

The city is approximately 80 kilometers from the nearest positions on the Ukrainian front, which would be beyond the range of even the HIMARS and M270 multiple rocket launchers (MSRPs) supplied to Ukraine.

“At this stage, we can only say that distance is a very relative concept. What is considered inviolable so far is not always the case. The Mariupol direction is no longer absolutely inviolable for us,” said press secretary Nataliya Humenyuk. for the southern command of the Ukrainian army, deepening the secret.

Ukrainian mass media suggested that the army deployed a new locally produced missile complex with a longer range.

According to Ukrainian officials and geotagged videos on social networks, since November, there has been a significant build-up of Russian troops in and around Mariupol.

In November, Andryushchenko published a video and a comment that “Russia continues to build up troops in the direction of Mariupol. At least 30 military trucks pass through Mariupol every day.” CNN says it cannot confirm that number.

This week, Andryushchenko announced that “the movement of military equipment to Mangus/Berdyansk has been resumed. A convoy of at least seven trucks with ammunition was recorded moving through Mariupol in the direction of Mangus.”

Analysts say supply routes from Mariupol to the west and north are important for the Russians to maintain defense lines in the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region in the event of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

After the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, the city of Mariupol was besieged by Russian troops for three months. It was a heroic resistance that symbolized Ukrainian determination. Ukrainian forces, including members of the “Azov” battalion, retreated to the “Azovstal” metallurgical plant of billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, who finally surrendered by order of the president, and on May 20, 2022, the Russian army took full control of the city. However, the city is mostly destroyed, evidence of fierce battles. (News.ro)