Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the immediate release of Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov, who was taken out of a government building on Friday with a plastic bag on the head. The abduction was partially videotaped, Newsweek reported.
Zelensky equated the abduction and continued targeting of Russia with non-combatants with “the actions of Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists”. The Russian-backed Luhansk regional prosecutor has accused Mayor Ivan Fedorov of “terrorism,” a lawsuit that Russia has widely imposed on the entire Ukrainian government.
About 10 armed Russian soldiers took him out of the building during the day, Ukraine’s parliament said on Twitter.
Melitopol has been under Russian control for more than a week.
A video posted on Twitter by Ukrainian journalist Viktor Kovalenko shows soldiers with rifles taking a hooded man out of the building in dark clothes. Kovalenko said that the video comes from Zelenski’s office.
“The whole country has seen that Melitopol has not surrendered to the invaders and this will not be changed by putting pressure on mayors or kidnapping mayors,” Zelenski said in a televised address to his channel on Friday.
❗ Warning ❗
A group of 10 occupiers kidnapped the mayor of #Melitopol (Zaporizhzhya region) Ivan Fedorov. He refused to cooperate with the enemy.#StopRussia #StopPutin
???? pic.twitter.com/nV6OPlbGfh— Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (@ua_parliament) March 11, 2022
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“This can only make matters worse for the invaders,” he continued. “The actions of the Russian invaders can be equated with the actions of Islamic State terrorists.”
He then demanded the immediate release of Fedorov and guarantees that he will provide a full security information.
Ukraine was at a turning point in the war with Russian forces, which appear to be regrouping for a possible attack on Kyiv, the president said.
“It is impossible to say how many more days we have to liberate Ukrainian land. But we can say that we will do it,” he said. “We are already moving towards our goal, our victory.”
Former Prime Minister of Ukraine: World War III has already begun
Groysman also said his country was “Europe’s only defense” against Russia’s invasion of the West.
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