Violent explosions rocked several regions of Odessa, Mykolaiv (south), Kharkiv and Donetsk (east).

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked a prominent military commander in eastern Ukraine, Moscow accused Kyiv of attacking the Zaporozhye nuclear plant.

Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that explosions rocked the countryside of Odessa province in southern Ukraine, and the Ukrainian army was quoted as announcing that its air defenses had shot down a Russian missile and drones over the "Ismail" area, west of the province.

In Mykolaiv, the city's mayor Oleksandr Senkevich said that Russian forces bombed the infrastructure of the port of Mykolaiv with missiles.

In Kharkiv (northeast), Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that the Chuygov region was subjected to missile strikes targeting 3 different sites, and that one of the missiles hit the cultural center.

The Ukrainian Supreme Staff said that 8 towns in the province were subjected to missile and artillery bombardment.

In the Donetsk region, the city of Kramatorsk and the surrounding towns were subjected to heavy Russian bombardment.

Al-Jazeera correspondent confirmed that one of the missiles fell on a house in the city without exploding, while the Ukrainian authorities did not announce any deaths in these attacks.


Ukrainian bombing

On the other hand, pro-Russian separatists said that Ukrainian forces bombed the city of Krasny Luch in the Lugansk region in the Donbas region with US HIMARS missiles.

A statement by the separatists confirmed that the bombing led to the destruction of a hotel in the city and the injury of a person, noting that 3 out of 6 missiles fell on the city and did not explode.

Russia's TASS news agency reported on Tuesday that a major fire broke out in an oil depot in the Budyonovsky district of the Russian-backed separatist "Donetsk People's Republic" in eastern Ukraine, after Ukrainian forces bombed the area.

The agency added that there were no reports of deaths or injuries so far due to the fire.


Field commander dismissal

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the commander of special operations in the Donbass (Donetsk and Luhansk) region, General Hryhori Hallahan, following the loss of large areas of territory and the control of Russia.

In a decree, Zelensky dismissed Hallahan, 44, from his post, and appointed Victor Horenko in his place.

General Hallahan has been commanding special operations forces in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions since August 2020.

Following Russia's invasion on February 24, Ukraine completely lost control of the Lugansk region, and Russian forces controlled about 50% of Donetsk region.

Prior to the invasion, pro-Russian separatists controlled only about 30% of the province.

Zelensky recently complained that Kyiv had lost control of 20% of Ukraine's territory.

In a related development, Ukraine received the first "Gebard" anti-aircraft armored vehicles from Germany, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced to Ukrainian television on Monday.

Reznikov said that Kyiv received the first 3 air defense systems with their munitions, and is waiting for the arrival of 12 other armored vehicles of the same model at a later time.

Russian warnings

In turn, Russia warned the Ukrainian authorities against any provocation against the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

The Russian Defense Ministry had said that on July 20, Ukrainian drones carried out attacks against the Zaporozhye nuclear plant, in an attack that was the second of its kind in one week.

"We warn the Ukrainian regime against continuous provocations against the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, provocations fraught with a nuclear accident, the consequences of which could not only affect Ukraine," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

Zakharova called on the international community to be vigilant in this matter, and to condemn the actions of the Kyiv authorities, she said.

On March 4, the Russian army announced full control of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant located in southern Ukraine.

The Russian military operation in Ukraine has continued since February 24, with no signs of an imminent end, despite widespread international condemnation and severe economic sanctions imposed by the West on Russia.