Mayor of Ukraine’s Melitopol kidnapped by Russian force

Mayor Ukraine’s Melitopol kidnapped: The mayor of Ukraine’s Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, has allegedly been kidnapped by Russian forces after he refused to cooperate with them. A few days ago, Ivan Fedorov had reportedly said, “We are not co-operating with the Russians in any way. They have not tried to help us, they cannot help us, and we do not want their help.” This came after Russian forces occupied the city.

After 13 days of the Russia-Ukraine war, several cities and regions in Ukraine have fallen to Putin’s invasion. Melitopol, Kherson, Berdyansk, Starobilsk, Novopskov are among the cities and regions that are currently under the control of Russian forces. But the residents continue to resist the “occupiers”. In the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, the internet connection has all but disappeared, making it nearly impossible to reach people by WhatsApp or Telegram call, or stay connected for more than a few minutes.

Melitopol mayor Ivan Federov said that ordinary phones are no longer an option for them. “We cannot use (phone lines), too easy for the Russians to listen in,” Federov was quoted as saying by BBC. The Melitopol mayor claimed that the Russian forces occupying the city have taken control of the city’s communication network and warned that they need to be wary of what they hear on TV and radio.

Ivan Federov and his team have been exiled to another location following the Russian occupation of the city a week ago. “We are not co-operating with the Russians in any way,” Federov said emphatically. “They have not tried to help us, they cannot help us, and we do not want their help.” Non-stop protests in Russian-occupied Ukrainian cities. When Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine, he claimed that Moscow does not plan to occupy Ukraine.

He claimed that the “military action” announced by him will seek to “demilitarize” Ukraine and came in response to threats from Ukraine. “We decided to launch a special military action aimed at demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine,” Putin had said in a televised address. But in Melitopol and a string of other mainly Russian-speaking Ukrainian cities, Putin’s forces have found themselves treated as occupiers.

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“There are protests in Melitopol every day,” said 33-year-old Yuliya Kovaliova, who before the invasion helped run her family business of electronics stores. “At some point, the Russian army started shooting at us and one man got shot, but we have not stopped protesting,” Kovaliova said. “We are not afraid to protest because we are together. We are afraid to walk alone at night, but we are not afraid to protest.”