Less than a week after being led out of a municipal building with a black hood over his head, Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov was freed in what the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called a “special operation,” ABC News reports.
An outspoken opponent to the Russians occupying his southern Ukrainian city, Fedorov had addressed patriotic demonstrations and urged people to resist the Russian invaders. On March 11th, he was seen on CCTV being escorted by multiple armed men out of a municipal office with a black bag over his head.
Zelenskyy posted a message on Telegram Wednesday showing him speaking with Fedorov. “We have finally managed to release the mayor of Melitopol from captivity,” he said in his evening address to the nation. “Ivan Fedorov is free. I talked to him today. The Russian military abducted him on March 11, trying to persuade him to collaborate. But our man withstood. He did not give up. Just as we all endure.”