The mayor of southern Ukraine’s Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, was abducted on Friday by Russian soldiers occupying the city, President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian officials said.
“A group of 10 occupiers kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov,” Ukraine’s parliament said on Twitter. "He refused to cooperate with the enemy," it added.
In a video message late Friday, Zelensky confirmed the abduction, calling Fedorov 'a mayor who bravely defends Ukraine and the members of his community'.
The deputy head of Ukraine's presidential administration, Kirillo Timoshenko, previously posted a video on Telegram showing soldiers coming out of a building holding a man dressed in black, his head apparently covered with a black bag.
According to the Ukrainian parliament, another regional official, the deputy head of the regional council of Zaporizhzhia — 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Melitopol — was abducted and then released a few days ago.
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