Russian troops have violently dispersed a pro-Ukraine rally being held in the occupied town of Enerhodar and detained some participants, local authorities said.
Soldiers from Vladimir Putin’s army reportedly bundled a number of demonstrators into detention vans after they gathered in the centre of the town on Saturday afternoon.
Local authorities shared a video on Telegram which appeared to show stun grenades being thrown in a square in the Sovremennik area, with loud bangs
Alongside the footage, they wrote: “The occupiers are dispersing the protesters with explosions.”
It also accused Russian forces of shelling another part of the town on Saturday and said as a result four people had been wounded and were being treated in hospital.
Residents of a number of towns and villages seized by Russian forces have been holding rallies against the occupation.
Enerhodar, which lies on the Dnipro river in Southern Ukraine, was captured by the Russian army last month. It is home to workers from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was renewing efforts to evacuate civilians in a convoy from the besieged port of Mariupol on Saturday.
The ICRC had sent a team on Friday to lead a convoy of around 54 Ukrainian vehicles out of the city, but was forced to turn back amid safety fears.
Russia has been criticised by Ukrainian officials for failing to safely allow the evacuation of citizens from cities and have been accused of shelling “humanitarian corridors”.
More than 4 million people have fled Ukraine since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of the country on February 24, according to the United Nations.
Russia last week claimed it would focus its military offensive on the eastern Donbas region after failing to encircle Kyiv and capture other key cities.
Addressing the Ukrainian public on national television on Saturday, presidential adviser Oleksir Arestovych warned that “heavy battles for the south” would continue.
