Ukrainian city of Melitopol not in Russian hands, British minister says

Reuters ^ | Feb. 26th, 2022 | Michael Holden

[shadowlands1960]

LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Russian forces have not captured the southeastern Ukrainian city of Melitopol and armoured columns advancing on the capital Kyiv have been held up by Ukrainian resistance, British armed forces minister James Heappey said on Saturday.

Heappey said it was the British assessment that Russia had so far failed to capture any of its day one targets for its invasion of Ukraine, which began on Thursday.

"Even Melitopol, which the Russians are claiming to have taken but we can't see anything to substantiate that, are all still in Ukrainian hands," Heappey told BBC radio.

[shadowlands1960]

Resistance

[BiglyCommentary]

Easy drive by pop to take out these drivers.

[mac_truck]

I’ve seen video of Russian flags flying over the administrative building there...but ok.

[mvonfr]

British minister is badly informed.

There was a video showing police headquarters in Melitopol and a Russian flag outside. The mayor is cooperating with new authorities. Melitopol is actually a minor place but a very important transit point, you can see from the map that the Russian advances toward Mariupol and Zaporozhe rely on it.