Ukraine says Melitopol Mayor 'kidnapped' by Russia

Kiev, March 12 Ukrainian authorities have claimed that Russia has "kidnapped" Ivan Fedorov, the Mayor of Melitopol city which has fallen to Moscow.

The announcement was first made by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Head of the President's Office, in a social media post on Friday night.

Later, the Ukrainian Parliament also confirmed the development, saying in a tweet on Friday that a "group of 10 occupiers kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol... He refused to cooperate with the enemy".

Condemning the abduction, the country's Foreign Ministry called on the "international community to respond immediately to the abduction of Ivan Federov and other civil, and to increase pressure on Russia to end its barbaric war against the Ukrainian people".

On February 25, the second day of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops entered the southeastern city.

In his latest video address, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused Russia of holding the Mayor hostage, saying that Moscow was now resorting to terror tactics as the invasion continued for the 17th day.

He said "the actions of the Russian invaders will be equated with the actions of terrorists", reports the BBC.

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