Dhe President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the release of the mayor of the city of Melitopol, which is occupied by Russian troops. Pressure on mayors or their “physical elimination” will not help Russia take over Ukrainian cities, Zelenskyy said in a video speech on Saturday night. Such an approach is a “sign of weakness” on the part of Russia. “They haven’t found any collaborators who would cede the cities and power to the occupiers. Therefore, they have entered a new phase of terror in which they are trying to eliminate representatives of local Ukrainian authorities.”
The government in Kyiv announced on Friday that the mayor of southern Ukraine’s Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, had been kidnapped. This could not be verified independently. A video fragment showed hooded people taking a man away from a central building.
Selenskyj addresses mothers of conscript Russians
A good two weeks ago, Russia, together with the separatists from Donetsk and Luhansk, started a war against Ukraine. The government in Moscow had previously recognized the two areas that had seceded from Kyiv since 2014 as independent. The city of Melitopol, located in the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia, has around 150,000 inhabitants.
Zelenskyj also called on Russian mothers, especially those of conscripts, to find out exactly where their sons are. You should not think that they are being sent on exercises. A few days ago, Russia admitted to using conscripts in the war against Ukraine. However, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow emphasized that this had not been approved by the leadership.
According to Zelenskyy, 7,144 civilians were able to flee from a total of four cities via humanitarian corridors on Friday. The number is significantly lower than in the two days before. In his speech, Zelenskyi again raised serious allegations against Russia for refusing to let people out of the besieged city of Mariupol. On Saturday, attempts will again be made to deliver food and medicine to Mariupol, the President said.