According to the mayor of Melitopol, the invaders did this to accuse the Ukrainian authorities.

Russian invaders staged a terrorist attack on the central market in the occupied Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region.

The mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, announced this on Telegram.

"The occupiers staged a terrorist attack in a crowded place to accuse the Ukrainian authorities of terror on the eve of the pseudo-referendum," Fedorov said.

In particular, as Fedorov noted, Russia constantly demonstrates three components in the occupied territories - fear, terror, and the elimination of objectionable ones.

It is noted that before the pseudo-referendum, the purge among their own intensifies.

"Today, in the Central Market of Melitopol, where there is always a large crowd of people, the Russians made an explosion and eliminated three soldiers. We are clarifying information on civilians," Fedorov wrote.

The mayor added that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would definitely liberate these territories.

"Everyone should understand: this is the future a terrorist country predicts for us. Therefore, neither pseudo-referenda nor any statements by terrorists will change our course: we will de-occupy our territories and return peace to our home," he said.

• On September 23-27, the Russian occupiers plan to hold pseudo-referenda in the captured parts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Lugansk regions in order to join the Russian Federation.