In daylight, the Russian invaders kidnapped Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, who refused to cooperate with them. As a result, the residents of the town staged a large-scale demonstration.
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People gathered in front of the seized building of the Melitopol district state administration on the morning of March 12. This was stated by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office.
Residents of Melitopol demand from the Russians the release of the mayor
According to Tymoshenko, more than 2,000 people have joined the protests. They are demanding that the Russians release their mayor immediately. People have brought Ukrainian flags and placards reading "Fedorov is our mayor" in Russian and English.
"Return the mayor! Fedorov! Freedom to our mayor" chanted the demonstrators.
On March 11, the Russian invaders captured Fedorov at the crisis center in the town of Melitopol. There is currently no information on where he might be. At the same time, the Zaporizhzhya regional administration stressed that they consider the Russians' actions a terrorist attack.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on the world to immediately respond to the kidnapping of Ivan Fedorov and other people in Ukraine, as it is a war crime.