<p class="title">The mayor of southern Ukraine's Melitopol was kidnapped on Friday by Russian soldiers occupying the city, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A group of 10 occupiers kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov," Ukraine's parliament said on Twitter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"He refused to cooperate with the enemy," it added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It said the mayor was seized when he was at the city's crisis centre dealing with supply issues.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a video message late Friday, Zelenskyy confirmed the abduction, calling Fedorov "a mayor who bravely defends Ukraine and the members of his community".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/dont-send-your-sons-to-war-volodymyr-zelenskyy-appeals-to-russian-mothers-1090569.html" target="_blank">'Don't send your sons to war': Zelenskyy to Russians</a></p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is obviously a sign of weakness of the invaders... They have moved to a new stage of terror in which they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of legitimate local Ukrainian authorities," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The capture of the mayor of Melitopol is therefore a crime, not only against a particular person, against a particular community, and not only against Ukraine. It is a crime against democracy itself... The acts of the Russian invaders will be regarded like those of Islamic State terrorists," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Before the Russian invasion, Melitopol had just over 150,000 inhabitants.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
<p class="title">The mayor of southern Ukraine's Melitopol was kidnapped on Friday by Russian soldiers occupying the city, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A group of 10 occupiers kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov," Ukraine's parliament said on Twitter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"He refused to cooperate with the enemy," it added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It said the mayor was seized when he was at the city's crisis centre dealing with supply issues.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a video message late Friday, Zelenskyy confirmed the abduction, calling Fedorov "a mayor who bravely defends Ukraine and the members of his community".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/dont-send-your-sons-to-war-volodymyr-zelenskyy-appeals-to-russian-mothers-1090569.html" target="_blank">'Don't send your sons to war': Zelenskyy to Russians</a></p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is obviously a sign of weakness of the invaders... They have moved to a new stage of terror in which they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of legitimate local Ukrainian authorities," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The capture of the mayor of Melitopol is therefore a crime, not only against a particular person, against a particular community, and not only against Ukraine. It is a crime against democracy itself... The acts of the Russian invaders will be regarded like those of Islamic State terrorists," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Before the Russian invasion, Melitopol had just over 150,000 inhabitants.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>