Russian soldiers violently broke up peaceful pro-Ukrainian protests as the Kremlin’s invasion continues into its sixth week.
In Enerhodar, which lies on the Dnipro river in Southern Ukraine, Moscow’s troops reportedly opened fire on protestors who opposed the ongoing invasion.
This comes as Vladimir Putin ’s invasion of Ukraine enters its sixth week, as Kyiv’s forces have begun making remarkable progress, taking territory back from Russia.
Hundreds of people gathered for a peaceful rally in the centre of the town this morning.
There the crowds sung the Ukrainian national anthem until Russian soldiers arrived to dispel the protestors.
Some were reportedly arrested as Moscow’s forces were said to have thrown tear and stun grenades into the crowds and shots and explosions were heard.
The town has been occupied by Russian forces since March 4.
Local authorities shared a video of the violence on Telegram and later Emine Dzheppar, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, tweeted out the video.
She said: “Another video from #Enerhodar near #Zaporizhzhia, #Ukraine, where Russian occupants fire on brave Ukrainian protesters”.
That came alongside the video which showed protestors fleeing from clouds of smoke, as gunfire and explosions rang out behind them.
Early reports also accused Russian forces of shelling another part of the town on Saturday.
This comes as the latest intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence highlighted the success Ukrainian forces were having with a number of counter-attacks.
They coincided with Russian retreats around the capital Kyiv, as Russia claimed it was originally done to help peace talks, but intelligence in the US and Ukraine doubted this motive.
Russian forces even retreated from Hostomel Airport, which saw fierce fighting from the first day of the invasion.
But, reports suggested that Russia was instead redeploying these troops to eastern and southern parts of the country to support their troops there.
It added: “Along the eastern axis, Ukraine has re-taken several villages.
“In the east of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have secured a key route in eastern Kharkhiv after heavy fighting.
“This follows the liberation of Trostyanets, in the vicinity of Sumy, earlier this week.”
On top of that, Ukrainian authorities said they were hesitant to let civilians back into the areas previously occupied by Russian troops over reports of mines and tripwires being left behind.
President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that retreating Russian forces were creating a “complete disaster” sabotaging homes and even bodies in their wake.
His warning came this morning as concerns about the humanitarian crisis gripping Mariupol continue to worsen.
The city is encircled by Russian troops and most attempts to get humanitarian aid into the civilians inside have been unsuccessful.
This week, there were reports of an attack on a Russian oil depot which the Kremlin claimed was Ukraine’s first strike on Russian territory since the war began.
Kyiv strongly denied the allegations and suggested Moscow negligence may be to blame.
So far, during fighting, more than four million people, largely women, children and the elderly, have fled their homes in Ukraine to escape the fighting.
The majority of the refugees entered Poland, but it is not known how many settled there or travelled on into other countries.
Despite worries on the first day of the invasion, that Russia would sweep Ukraine and take the capital within days, the fighting has been severely prolonged.
This was reportedly because of a mixture of fierce resistance from Ukraine and under-resourced, poorly equipped and led Russian troops.
