NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Russian forces have captured a second Ukrainian mayor, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, Russian “war criminals” kidnapped the mayor of Dniprorudny Yevgeny Matveev in the Vasilyevsky district of the Zaporozhye region.
“Lacking local support, the occupiers turn to terror,” Kuleba tweeted. “I call on all states and international organizations to stop Russian terror against Ukraine and democracy.
RUSSIA INTELLIGENCE OFFICER ARIS REPORT LINKS PUTN’S FAULT WITH WAR, EXPERT SAYS: DIRECT UPDATE
Matveev is the second Ukrainian mayor reportedly captured by Russian troops advancing in the region.
Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of the nearby city of Melitopol, was abducted on March 11, Kuleba said on Saturday.
“Russian war criminals are kidnapping democratically elected mayors of Ukrainian cities,” Kuleba tweeted. “Locals are holding protests demanding his release.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded with Western countries that communicate with Moscow – France, Germany, Israel and others – on Saturday to help him release Fedorov, saying in the appeal: “I will talk to whom I need to talk so that our people can be released.”
Zelensky said he had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about the matter.
His address came hours after the Ukrainian parliament announced Fedorov’s capture, saying a group of 10 “occupiers” put a plastic bag over the mayor’s head in the Melitopol crisis center.
“This is yet another example of the illegal, cynical and barbaric actions of the Russian armed forces in the context of their reckless and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine,” the European Parliament said in a statement in response to the kidnapping of Fedorov. “We call on the Russian military authorities to immediately release Mr. Ivan Fedorov and ensure his health and safety. We call on the Russian authorities to fully comply with the Geneva Conventions on Combatants, Non-Combatants and Prisoners of War, as well as all relevant provisions of international humanitarian law.”
“These are not only legal obligations of the Russian Federation, but also collective moral obligations of the international community, including citizens of Europe and Russia,” the statement said. “will not be forgotten, and all those responsible for such acts will be prosecuted in accordance with international law.”
Russian state media reported on Saturday that prosecutors in Lugansk, Moscow’s recognized breakaway region of Donbass, are preparing terrorism charges against Fedorov, accusing him of fundraising for far-right groups, the New York Times reported. Zelensky, who is Jewish and lost relatives during the Holocaust, said Fedorov’s kidnapping was intended to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unsubstantiated claims that Russian troops should invade to liberate the Ukrainian people from neo-Nazis.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Melitopol, northeast of Russian-annexed Crimea, was heavily fought on the first day of the Russian invasion on February 24. It has since been occupied by Russian forces and Fedorov has been regularly posting updates on social media calling for resistance by providing lists. why else did ATMs work, where to buy milk and medicines and a warning that marauders would be punished.
“We are not collaborating with the Russians in any way,” he told the BBC two days before the kidnapping. “They didn’t try to help us, they can’t help us, and we don’t want their help.”