The Russian military has appointed a new mayor to the war-torn city of Melitopol, a day after its elected mayor was kidnapped by a group of 10 Russian soldiers.
Galina Danilchenko, a former city council member, was named acting mayor on Saturday on local television, CNN reported.
Mayor Ivan Fedorov was brought in from the Melitopol crisis center on Friday with a plastic bag over his head after he “refused to cooperate with the enemy,” the Ukrainian parliament said in a statement.
More than 2,000 residents of the Russian-occupied city of the Kremlin-backed Luhansk region held a rally in support of Fedorov on Saturday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanding his immediate release.
But in a televised statement, Danilchenko said she was committed to returning the city “to normal” and cautioned against those who “provoke a reaction of bad behavior.”
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“I ask you not to lose your mind and not succumb to these provocations,” she said.
Acting mayor Galina Danilchenko claims that protesters will be punished in Melitopol, Ukraine. Contributed by the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS
CCTV footage shows Russian soldiers arresting Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov, Deputy Head of the President’s Office, Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS
Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov “refused to cooperate” with Russian forces, according to Ukrainian parliament reports. Embassy of Ukraine