Hundreds of heroic Ukrainians took to the streets to support the demands of their defiant president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who called for the release of the kidnapped mayor of Melitopol.
Chilling CCTV footage captured the moment Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of the beleaguered city, had a plastic bag placed over his head as Russian troops escorted him out of the building and across the square.
Later, huge crowds ignored the occupiers’ demands from Vladimir Putin to stay away, gathering outside the building where the mayor was last seen being dragged away by Moscow troops.
Other protesters enthusiastically waved placards calling for the mayor’s release.
The Prime Minister of Ukraine praised the residents of Melitopol, who “did not surrender to the occupiers.”
He added that Fedorov’s capture was “an attempt to bring the city to its knees” and called for the immediate release of the mayor of the besieged village.
Zelensky also urged Russian forces to heed the calls of residents of occupied Melitopol who were protesting and demanding the release of Ivan Fedorov.
At a press conference, Zelensky said: “The demand is simple – to release [Fedorov] immediately from captivity.
Shocking video footage shows the moment Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov was kidnapped by Russian forces after he “refused to cooperate with the enemy.”
Video footage provided by officials shows crowds of defiant residents gathering outside the occupied administration building to protest the alleged kidnapping of Mr. Fedorov.
![At a press conference, President Zelensky said: “The demand is simple - to release [Fedorov] immediately from captivity'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/03/12/19/55273207-10605321-At_a_press_conference_Zelensky_said_The_demand_is_simple_to_rele-a-2_1647112070437.jpg "Recalcitrant residents of Melitopol took to the streets demanding the release of the kidnapped mayor of the city 3")
At a press conference, President Zelensky said: “The demand is simple – to release [Fedorov] immediately from captivity’
Ukrainian officials and Zelenskiy said on Friday that 10 Russian soldiers kidnapped Ivan Fedorov from the city’s crisis center while he had a bag over his head.
CCTV footage posted on Telegram by the deputy head of the office of the President of Ukraine shows a group of men leading Fedorov out of the building and across the square.
Zelensky, who spoke to German and French leaders earlier Saturday, called Fedorov’s alleged detention an attempt to “bring the city to its knees.”
He also said that Ukraine expects “world leaders to show how they can influence the release of a man who represents Ukrainians who do not give up.”
Ukrainian officials said 2,000 people took to the streets of Melitopol in protest after the alleged kidnapping.
Video footage provided by officials shows crowds of defiant residents holding Ukrainian flags gathered near the occupied administration building.
The Ukrainian parliament said Mr Fedorov was kidnapped by 10 armed men who put a plastic bag over his head. Russia has not commented on the fate of Mr Fedorov.
The clip, which was widely circulated by the Ukrainian media, was allegedly filmed on Victory Square in Melitopol in southeastern Ukraine.
President Zelensky on Friday called the alleged kidnapping of Mr Fedorov a “crime” against “democracy” as he said the actions of the Russian occupiers would be seen as “terrorism”.
“Therefore, the capture of the mayor of Melitopol is a crime not only against a specific person, against a specific community, and not only against Ukraine. This is a crime against democracy itself… The actions of the Russian occupiers will be regarded as the actions of Islamic State terrorists,” he said.
Ukrainian officials said the mayor of Melitopol was kidnapped after he “refused to cooperate with the enemy.”
Zelensky also accused Vladimir Putin’s troops of “transition to a new stage of terror” due to the lack of support for the invasion of Ukraine.
CCTV footage posted on Telegram by the deputy head of the office of the President of Ukraine shows a group of men leading Fedorov out of the building and across the square.
President Zelensky on Friday called the alleged kidnapping of Mr Fedorov (pictured) a “crime” against “democracy” as he said the actions of the Russian occupiers would be seen as “terrorism”.
“This is a clear sign of the weakness of the occupiers… They have moved on to a new stage of terror, in which they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of the legitimate local Ukrainian authorities,” he added.
Zelenskiy hailed Mr. Fedorov as a mayor who “bravely defends Ukraine” and his community, as he said Ukrainian resistance will not be changed by “putting pressure on mayors or kidnapping mayors.”
The prosecutor’s office in the Lugansk People’s Republic, a Moscow-backed rebel region in eastern Ukraine, said on its website that a criminal case had been opened against Mr. Fedorov.
The office accused him of “terrorist activities” and funding the nationalist Right Sector militia to “commit terrorist crimes against civilians in Donbass.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry characterized the alleged kidnapping as a war crime, adding: “We call on the international community to respond immediately to the kidnapping of Ivan Fedorov and other civilians, and to increase pressure on Russia to end its barbaric war against Ukraine. people.’
On February 26, Russian troops captured Melitopol with a population of 150,000.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, Zelenskiy accused Russia of refusing to allow evacuees to leave the city of Mariupol, which has been cut off from food, water and electricity, and defiantly insisted that vital supplies would be delivered there tomorrow, despite the fact that it is surrounded by Russian troops.
The Kremlin-owned TASS news agency painted a damning picture for those stuck in the city, citing Russian colonel Mikhail Mizintsev as saying that all the bridges to the city had been destroyed and roads mined.
“Russian troops did not let our help into the city and continue to torture our people… tomorrow [Saturday] we will try again, we will try again to send food, water and medicines,” Zelensky said.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the crisis in Mariupol deepened further last night, with the death toll surpassing 1,500. In the photo: the aftermath of Russian artillery shelling of a residential area in Mariupol, where a rocket hit a residential building
An explosion in a residential building after the shelling of a tank of the Russian army in Mariupol, Ukraine today
In hellish scenes not seen on the continent since World War II, residents resort to fighting each other for food and bodies are buried in mass graves as more than 1,500 people have already died in Mariupol.
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted: “The siege of Mariupol is now the worst humanitarian disaster on the planet. 1582 dead civilians in 12 days, even buried in mass graves. Having failed to defeat the Ukrainian army, Putin is bombing the unarmed, blocking humanitarian aid. We need planes to stop Russian war crimes!”
A total of 7,144 people fled four Ukrainian cities on Friday using humanitarian corridors, President Zelenskiy said in a televised address, significantly fewer than they managed to leave on each of the previous two days.
It came as Putin struck areas in central and western Ukraine, a few hundred kilometers from the capital Kyiv, and powerful explosions lit up the night sky in Dnipro and Lutsk as residents came under fire from Russian artillery for the first time.
In Ivano-Frankivsk, at dawn, a triple attack was made on an airfield on the outskirts of the city. As a result of indiscriminate shelling yesterday at 4 am British time, high-rise buildings and a factory caught fire in Dnipro, killing a security guard.
Meanwhile, a 40-mile column of tanks, troops and artillery that has been advancing on Kyiv in recent days is believed to have moved into strategic firing positions ahead of a full-scale assault on the capital.
There are growing fears that Moscow may try to repeat its barbaric bombardment of besieged cities such as Mariupol, where Russian troops are now only nine miles from the city.
Satellite imagery shows howitzer weapons and suspected rocket launchers are being prepared, prompting the remaining Kievites to take up arms and erect barricades. Mayor Vitali Klitschko has warned Russia that the city is a fortress.
This is because military experts say they are baffled by the inadequacy of the tactics displayed by the Russian army after drone footage yesterday showed a column of tanks being destroyed one by one in an ambush set by Ukrainian forces.
Analysts say Russian tank commanders allowed the Ukrainians to ambush their unit, driving in the middle of the main road leading to Kyiv and straight into a death trap. According to numerous estimates, the forces of President Vladimir Putin lost more tanks than the combat-ready part of the entire German army.
Failure to establish control over Kiev could force Putin to start settlement talks earlier than expected.
Yesterday he said there had been “positive changes” in talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials when he welcomed Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to Moscow.
Some Russian units are now only nine miles from Kyiv.
There are fears that they will try to repeat the barbaric tactics used in other cities, including surrounded Mariupol, and those inside are suffering from hunger and dehydration. Russian troops bombed a maternity hospital there this week.