In captured city of Melitopol, residents protest Russian abduction of mayor

Residents of the captured Ukrainian city of Melitopol, the country’s southeast, are said to be protesting the alleged abduction on Friday of the town’s mayor.

Videos circulating on social media show a large demonstration in front of city hall, with protestors demanding the release of Ivan Fedorov, who was abducted by Russian troops, according to Ukrainian officials.

In Melitopol, defiant residents gathered near occupied district administration demanding that Russians release the kidnapped Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov – video by Odessa reg governor Maksym Marchenko pic.twitter.com/nCrE6OtQd0

— Myroslava Petsa (@myroslavapetsa) March 12, 2022

A video clip shared Friday by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior official in Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, showed a person said to be Fedorov being whisked away by a group of armed soldiers.

In this today's video from the occupied #Melitopol city in #Zaporizhzhya province you can see how in the middle of the day the #Russian soliders kidnap Ivan Fedorov, a mayor of the city. Video shared by the Ukraine presidential office (Kyrylo Tymoshenko). [Thread⬇️] pic.twitter.com/ei5cykbSYP

— Victor Kovalenko (@MrKovalenko) March 11, 2022

According to Ukraine’s parliament, known as the Verkhovna Rada, the Russian forces put a plastic bag on Fedorov’s head when they abducted him.

“He refused to cooperate with the enemy,” it wrote on Twitter. “The Ukrainian flag stood in the mayor’s office.”

Russian forces captured the southern port city of Melitopol, with a population of 150,000, on February 26.