The mayor of Melitopol was kidnapped on Friday by Russian soldiers occupying the southern Ukrainian town, Ukrainian officials said. The information was confirmed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“A group of ten occupiers kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov”has indicated on his Rada Twitter account, the Ukrainian Parliament. “He refused to cooperate with the enemy”she added.
According to this source, he was arrested when he was in the crisis center of the city, located about 120 km south of Zaporizhia, to deal with supply issues.
“Today in Melitopol the invaders captured the city mayor Ivan Fedorov. A mayor who bravely defends Ukraine and the members of his community”President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed late in the evening in a video message.
“This is obviously a sign of weakness of the invaders (…) They have moved to a new stage of terror in which they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of legitimate local Ukrainian authorities”he pointed out.
“A crime against democracy”
“The capture of the mayor of Melitopol is therefore a crime, not only against a particular person, against a particular community, and not only against Ukraine. It is a crime against democracy as such (…). The acts of the Russian invaders will be equated with those of the terrorists of the Islamic State”he was indignant.
Deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Kirillo Tymoshenko, previously posted a video on Telegram showing soldiers from a distance coming out of a building holding a man dressed in black, his head apparently covered with a black bag.
According to the Rada, another regional official, the deputy head of the Zaporizhia regional council Leyla Ibragimova, had already been kidnapped and then released a few days ago.
Before the Russian invasion began on February 24, Melitopol had just over 150,000 inhabitants.
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