President Zelenskyy has compared Vladimir Putin's troops to 'ISIS' terrorists as he expressed his fury over the reported kidnapping of the Melitopol mayor Ivan Federov by Russian troops.
Zelenskyy in his address yesterday evening (March 11) said: "Today, in Melitopol, the invaders captured the mayor of the city, Ivan Federov.
"A mayor who courageously defends Ukraine and the people of his community."
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The footage of the reported incident was shared on social media last night.
"It is a democratic world here therefore the capture of the mayor of Melitopol is a crime not only against a particular person," Zelenskyy added.
"Not only against a particular community and not only against Ukraine. This is a crime against democracy.
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"Obviously, this is a sign of the weakness of the invaders.
"They did not find collaborators who would hand over the city and the power to the invaders.
"Therefore, they have switched to a new stage of terror when they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of the legitimate local Ukrainian authorities.
"The whole country saw that Melitopol did not surrender to the invaders, and this will not be changed by putting pressure on mayors or kidnapping mayors."
Zelenskyy goes on to say that 'this can only get worse for the invaders'.
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He said: "The actions of Russian invaders will be equated with the actions of ISIS terrorists."
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement about Fedorov's capture saying: "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.
"The perpetrators of this and other crimes will be brought to the strictest responsibility."
Melitopol was one of the first cities that was captured by Russia on 1 March.
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Whilst Federov has remained in charge, reports claim he was abducted after refusing to collaborate with Russian forces.
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Anish Vij