Kidnapped Ukrainian Mayor Ivan Fedorov Rescued In Special Operation

Ivan Fedorov, Mayor of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southeastern Ukraine, was released from Russian captivity after what has been described as a ‘special operation’. 

The Interfax news agency reports that, in order to secure the release, young prisoners of war were exchanged with Russia. 

An official told the agency: “Ivan Fedorov was released from Russian captivity… for him, Russia received nine captured soldiers who were born in 2002 and 2003. These are actually children.” 

Zelenskyy told the mayor: “I am very happy that we got you back… very glad to hear your voice.” 

In Fedorov’s absence, Russia appointed a new mayor in his place - Halyna Danylchenko, a councilwoman from a pro-Russian party. 

She called on Melitopol’s 150,000 residents to ‘adapt to the new reality’. 

Fedorov had previously called on his city to rise up and fight the Russian occupation, later being awarded the Order for Courage by Zelenskyy in recognition of the ‘significant personal contribution to the protection of state sovereignty and territorial integrity’. 

After he was abducted on 11 March, the Ukrainian government issued a statement on Facebook condemning the capture as one of numerous ‘gross violations’ by the Russian military. 

“Russian troops, who have been launching missile and bomb attacks on civilian facilities and infrastructure in Ukraine, including children's hospitals and schools, over the course of two week, are cynically accusing the Mayor of ‘terrorism’,” the statement said. 

“The abduction of the Mayor of Melitopol is classified as a war crime under the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocol that prohibit the taking of civilian hostages during the war. 

“We call on the international community to respond immediately to the abduction of Ivan Fedorov and other civilians, and to increase pressure on Russia to end its barbaric war against the Ukrainian people.” 

It added: “The fact of the abduction of the Mayor of Melitopol, along with hundreds of other facts of war crimes by Russian occupiers on the Ukrainian soil, are being carefully documented by law enforcement agencies.

"The perpetrators of this and other crimes will be brought to the strictest responsibility.”