He had kidnapped and taken away with a hood over his head. The mayor of Melitopol, in the south of Ukraine, kidnapped on March 11 by the Russians, has been released, announced the Ukrainian authorities. At first, kyiv had mentioned an “operation” of the Ukrainian special forces, without providing details. But on Wednesday evening, a spokeswoman for President Zelensky’s chief of staff, Dasha Zarivna, said that Ivan Fedorov had been released in an exchange for nine young captured Russian soldiers.
“Thank you for not abandoning me”
In video posted on Telegram, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to him on the phone and says he is “happy to hear the voice of a living man”. ” I am much better. Thank you for not abandoning me. I need a day or two to recover and then I am at your service to contribute to our victory, ”replied Mayor Ivan Fedorov.
The latter had been arrested when he was at the crisis center of his city to deal with supply issues. The next day, Volodymyr Zelensky called his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to ask them to help free Ivan Fedorov. Another mayor, that of the city of Dniprorudné, also in the south, was captured on Sunday. These abductions have been condemned by the European Union.