Abducted mayor of Melitopol was taken to Luhansk - Zaporizhzhya Regional Military Administration

Kateryna Tyshchenko - Monday, 14  March 2022, 23:16

Russians relocated the abducted Melitopol Mayor, Ivan Fedorov, to occupied Luhansk.

Source: Zaporizhya Regional Military Administration

Verbatim: "The abducted mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, is in occupied Luhansk, where he is incriminated with ‘terrorism’, according to the latest update."

"Dniprorudnyy Mayor, Yevhen Matveyev, was also abducted by the invaders, but his fate is unknown. "

Details: The Regional Military Administration also reported that a protest rally took place in occupied Berdyansk on Monday. The occupying forces obstructed a rally in support of Mayor Ivan Fedorov which was supposed to be held in Melitopol. Armed Russian troops surrounded the square and pushed people away. The occupying forces accompanied their actions with warnings from loudspeakers to ban rallies.

Background:

The people of Melitopol went to rallies and chanted in Ukrainian and Russian "Melitopol is Ukraine" and "Go home while you are alive!" starting with the first day Russian occupying forces entered the city.

The aggressors abducted Leyla Ibragimova, a deputy of the Zaporizhya Regional Council, in Melitopol on March 10. Later, Leyla was released.

Russian occupying forces abducted Melitopol Mayor, Ivan Fedorov on March 11. Surveillance cameras recorded the moment of the abduction. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Melitopol Mayor was tortured so that he could record a video showing his support for the Russian aggressors’ authorities.

Residents of the city organised protests near the Regional State Administration demanding that the aggressors release Fedorov on March 12. Russian invaders abducted activist Olga Haisumova, who organised protests in the city, right in the midst of a protest.

Later, the Russians also abducted the Head of Melitopol District Council, Serhiy Priyma and attempted to abduct City Council Secretary, Roman Romanov.