7:27 p.m. ET, February 27, 2024
Ukrainian resistance forces says it blew up a pro-Putin party office in an occupied southern city
From CNN’s Mariya Knight in Atlanta
Ukraine’s National Resistance Center, an official body, said Tuesday that Ukrainian resistance forces blew up an office of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “United Russia” party in the occupied southern Ukrainian city of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson region.
The National Resistance Center which is run by Ukraine's Special Forces said the attack was carried out in order “to stop the fake election process in the captured city” as the preparations are underway for the Russian presidential elections in March.
The Center of National Resistance called on citizens of Ukraine who are currently residing on the occupied territories, not to participate in the upcoming Russian election and warned that “every collaborator who helps organize the 'election process' will be held accountable for their actions.”
Marina Zakharova, the head of the Russian-appointed Electoral Commission of the Kherson region, said in a video message on Tuesday that “as a result of a terrorist attack by Ukraine” in Nova Kakhovka “the premises of precinct commissions were damaged.”
Zakharova said that Tuesday was “the first day of early voting in the presidential elections in hard-to-reach and remote settlements, including those located along the line of military contact.”
This was not the first incident when Ukraine was trying to sabotage the election sights on Tuesday, according to Zakharova. She said “an enemy shell exploded near the territorial election commission in the Holoprystanskyi municipal district,” which is in Kherson region as well.
Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed acting head of the Kherson region administration, also confirmed the attacks but claimed they were carried out by drones. Saldo said there were no victims following the attacks and posted the video of the destruction on the cites to his Telegram channel.