A car with Chechen soldiers fighting on behalf of Russia was blown up in the Melitopol district of Zaporizhzhia Oblast by Ukrainian partisans, according to the city’s exiled mayor.
Ivan Fedorov, who was Melitopol’s mayor before the city came under Russian control in March 2022, said the attack occurred over the weekend in a message he posted Monday on Telegram. Newsweek could not verify the events described by Fedorov took place, and an email was sent Monday night to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.
Ukrainian partisans have been credited with key attacks throughout the war that Russian President Vladimir Putin launched in February 2022. In August 2022, The Washington Post reported partisans were likely behind an attack on Russia’s Saki air base in Crimea that triggered at least 12 explosions at the facility.
More recently, the National Resistance Center of Ukraine said last month that Ukrainian partisans were responsible for an explosion on a train in Melitopol, disrupting deliveries of ammunition and fuel for Moscow’s military fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images
In his post, Fedorov referred to the car occupants as “Kadyrovites,” a term frequently applied to fighters under Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who is a strong ally of Putin.
“Resistance forces have blown up a Kadyrovite car in the Melitopol district,” Fedorov wrote.
He continued by saying local residents reported hearing gunfire near the Zaporizhzhia village of Myrne, around seven miles from Melitopol.
Fedorov said the clash was later revealed to involve Ukrainian partisans against Chechen troops fighting for Russia.
“Afterwards, the Kadyrovites were waiting for help when their Niva ‘unexpectedly’ exploded,” he said.
Fedorov concluded his post by saying the car was burned out from the explosion and added the number of casualties is not yet known.
The exiled mayor made a similar report last month about a car detonating in Melitopol.
In a Telegram message posted on October 20, Fedorov said Ukrainian partisans blew up a car with Russian “occupiers” who had been robbing apartments in Melitopol.
“They were regularly singling out and looting empty apartments in the city. This time, our resistance was tracking them,” Fedorov wrote. “The explosion happened during one of their ‘hunts’ in the Aviamistechko district [of Melitopol] while they were loading looted goods into the car.”
Ukrainian news outlet Euromaidan Press wrote that Russian media based in Melitopol described the October 20 explosion as a car malfunction that accidentally ignited the vehicle’s fuel.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.