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Ukraine official says Russian troops put a bag over Ivan Fedorov’s head earlier than main him away to an unknown location.
Ukrainian authorities have accused Russian forces of abducting the mayor of Melitopol, a metropolis in southeastern Ukraine that has fallen below Russian management.
Anton Heraschenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s inside ministry, mentioned 10 troopers entered the premises of Melitopol’s disaster centre on Thursday, put a bag over Mayor Ivan Fedorov’s head and took him to an unknown location.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s workplace in Kyiv, shared footage of what he mentioned was Fedorov’s abduction.
The video confirmed masked males main one other man out of a constructing.
Al Jazeera couldn’t independently confirm the footage.
There was no quick remark from Moscow on Fedorov’s destiny.
In a video message late on Friday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the kidnapping, calling Fedorov a “mayor who bravely defends Ukraine and the members of his neighborhood”.
“That is clearly an indication of weak point of the invaders,” he mentioned. “They’ve moved to a brand new stage of terror through which they’re attempting to bodily eradicate representatives of reputable native Ukrainian authorities.”
❗ Warning ❗
A gaggle of 10 occupiers kidnapped the mayor of #Melitopol (Zaporizhzhya area) Ivan Fedorov. He refused to cooperate with the enemy.#StopRussia #StopPutin
👇 pic.twitter.com/nV6OPlbGfh— Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (@ua_parliament) March 11, 2022
The Ukrainian Overseas Ministry additionally denounced the kidnapping in a press release, saying the incident amounted to a conflict crime as worldwide regulation prohibits the taking of civilian hostages throughout conflict.
The ministry mentioned Russian forces have been “cynically accusing the mayor of terrorism”.
“We name on the worldwide neighborhood to reply instantly to the kidnapping of Ivan Federov and different civilians, and to extend stress on Russia to finish its barbaric conflict towards the Ukrainian folks.”
Russian forces entered Melitopol on the second day of their invasion, on February 25, in accordance with the Ukrayinska Pravda information web site.
Following the Russian offensive, Fedorov led a number of rallies towards the invasion, in accordance with the information outlet. That included a rally on March 2 that was attended by hundreds of individuals.
On March 5, Ukrayinska Pravda reported Fedorov saying that the state of affairs within the metropolis was getting “troublesome” on account of meals and drugs shortages.
He additionally mentioned Melitopol authorities had requested Russian forces to open a humanitarian hall to let the town’s residents depart, however mentioned the request was refused.
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