The mayor of Ukraine said that he was arrested by Russian forces for 6 days
The mayor of the city of Melitopol in southeastern Ukraine said he spent six “difficult” days when he was captured by Russian forces last month.
“It’s been six dangerous days,” Mayor Ivan Fedorov said in an interview in Rome, Italy, a month after he was released.
Officials Ukraine said Fedorov was arrested on March 11 after Russian forces took control of the city of Melitopol in late February. Kiev announced his release in a prisoner exchange on March 16.
Ivan Fedorov, mayor of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia province, southeastern Ukraine. Image: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
Russia could not comment on the arrest of the mayor of Melitopol or the prisoner exchange with Ukraine.
“They came to see me at night with five or seven soldiers and talked for about four to five hours. The dialogue was quite difficult,” Fedorov said of the time of his arrest, adding that he was not tortured about it. physically but face a lot of “psychological pressure”.
“The Russian soldiers thought they would be welcome, but they weren’t. And that’s why the Russians were so angry,” he said.
Fedorov, who met Pope Francis and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin last weekend said he had asked the Vatican to influence Russian President Vladimir Putin to ensure the maintenance of humanitarian corridors for the port city of Mariupol, where fighting is intense.
The appearance of the Ukrainian battlefield after 8 weeks of fighting. Click to see details.
Taking over Melitopol, Mariupol and Ukraine’s southern coast would help Moscow create an important land corridor linking the pro-Russian separatist region in the east with the Crimean peninsula.
Russia claims it has almost complete control of Mariupol, but Ukrainian officials insist Ukrainian forces remain in the city and “will fight to the end”.
Vu Hoang (According to Reuters)
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