Russian occupiers intensifying abductions, moving around in Melitopol is dangerous - the mayor

IRYNA BALACHUK - FRIDAY, 29 APRIL 2022, 09:41

IVAN FEDOROV. FACEBOOK PHOTO

Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov has stated that Russian occupiers are abducting people at checkpoints and simply on the streets more frequently, therefore it is currently dangerous to move around the city and the surroundings.

Source: Fedorov on air at the national 24/7 news broadcast on 29 April morning

Quote: "People are being abducted at checkpoints. They have already started mass abductions. All men of military age are being abducted. Two weeks ago they started urging them to join the Russian army, and today they are seizing them at checkpoints and taking them in an unknown direction. People are being held in inhumane conditions in basements. I think they want to use them in prisoner exchanges or as cannon fodder in operations during the war with Ukraine.

It has now become dangerous to leave Melitopol and to simply move around Melitopol and the surrounding area."

Details: Fedorov also said that on 28 April Ukrainian military blew up a bridge that was of great logistical importance for the Russian occupiers, because with the help of this bridge military equipment was being transported to Melitopol and Novobohdanovka stations, and this military equipment was being used in occupiers' operations in Mariupol just as in the south of Ukraine.

According to the mayor, after the explosion at the bridge the Russian occupiers started an immediate search for who was behind it - everyone was searched and interrogated. Fedorov noted that these investigations had been unsuccessful..

The mayor of Melitopol expressed confidence that efforts would continue to undermine transport hubs used by Russian invaders.

He also said that theft of grain and food by the occupiers has already reached an industrial scale. In particular, the authorities published a video showing more than 50 Russian trucks exporting grain.

The fate of the Scythian gold stolen by the Russians remains unknown, but Fedorov believes Ukraine will succeed in getting it returned..

At the same time, the mayor doubts that the Russian occupiers will succeed in introducing Russian rubles into circulation in the occupied territories, despite the fact that they have already taken some of the collaborators amongst the banking staff for training in Rostov-on-Don in Russia.

According to Fedorov, he does not believe the Russian invaders will the succeed, because there is "significant resistance to the actions of the occupiers."