Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Saturday to French and German leaders to help secure the release of the Mayor of Melitopol who said Kyiv was revoked by storming Russian troops.
“At night and today we talk to our partners about the situation with our Mayor. Our request is clear: he must be released soon … I’ve called (Germany) Chancellor Olaf Scholz. I have spoken with (France) President Emmanuel Macron. … I will talk to everyone needed to make our people released, “said Zelensky in a video released by the Ukrainian presidency.
“We hope world leaders show us how they can influence the situation.”
According to the President and Parliament of Ukraine, Mayor Ivan Fedorov was kidnapped on Friday by the Russian army who occupied Melitopol, a city in South Ukraine halfway between Mariupol and Kherson, because he “refused to work with the enemy.”
According to the Ukrainian parliament, the mayor was arrested while in the city crisis center handling supply problems.
Zelensky said 2,000 Ukrainians showed in Melitopol on Saturday against Russian invasion and to demand the liberation of their mayor.
“Have you heard, Moscow? If 2,000 people demonstrated in melithopol against the work, how much is it in Moscow against the war?” He said in his video.
Before the Russian invasion began on February 24, the melitopol has a population of more than 150,000.
