3:42 p.m. ET, August 28, 2023
Ukrainian intelligence says a Russian police base in Enerhodar was bombed in a resistance operation
From Maria Kostenko and Svitlana Vlasova in Kyiv
A still from a video posted by the Department of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on Telegram. The post claims an explosion occurred at riot police headquarters in Enerhodar on August 28, 2023.
Department of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine/Telegram
There was an explosion at a Russian base in the occupied city of Enerhodar, close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, as a result of a resistance operation, according to Ukrainian Defense Intelligence.
Defense intelligence said on its Telegram channel that the explosion occurred Monday morning at the headquarters of Russia's special riot police force, known as the OMON unit.
“As a result of the operation of the local resistance movement coordinated by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, an improvised 'barracks' of the Russian Guard unit 'Akhmat-1' was 'damaged.'"
Akhmat-1 is a Chechen unit. Defense intelligence said that after the city was occupied, Chechen fighters had seized and converted a building on the site of a Ukrainian bank branch.
It said the explosion “resulted in injuries to the occupiers' personnel and cars parked in the courtyard. A fire broke out in the building. Fire crews and ambulances arrived at the scene. Information on the number of killed and wounded Kadyrovites is currently being clarified.”
Ukrainian Defense Intelligence also posted video of the explosion that showed a drone flying towards the front entrance of the building, which CNN has geolocated as in Enerhodar. There were no civilian casualties or injuries, defense intelligence said.
A Russian-appointed official in occupied Zaporizhzhia acknowledged that the military-civilian administration building in Enerhodar was hit by a drone Monday. However, the official disputed Ukraine's claim that personnel casualties occurred as a result of the bombing.
Vladimir Rogov said that "preliminarily, there are no dead or injured. Employees of the administration have already been evacuated."
Emergency services are working on the spot, Rogov said on Telegram.
More background: Ukrainian Defense intelligence has previously claimed sabotage attacks earlier this month in Enerhodar. It said there had been an explosion at a meeting of the chiefs of the occupation police on August 18, and last week another at the local headquarters of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).