Another mayor is reported to have been kidnapped by invading Russian forces in Ukraine, triggering condemnation from the EU’s foreign policy chief.
The mayor of the southern town of Dniprorudne, Yevheniy Matvieyev, was abducted by Russian troops, Ukrainian authorities said on March 13.
"War crimes are becoming more and more systematic," the head of the military administration of the Zaporizhzhya region, Oleksandr Starukh, wrote on Facebook.
Dniprorudne is a small town with nearly 20,000 inhabitants on the Dnieper River.
The mayor of the city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, was earlier abducted by Russians troops, triggering protests there and calls by Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskiy for his immediate release.
On March 13, people in Melitopol were out on the streets again to demand the release of Fedorov whose abduction was documented by surveillance video showing him being marched out of city hall apparently surrounded by Russian soldiers on March 11.
“The EU strongly condemns the kidnapping of the mayors of Melitopol and Dniprorudne by Russian armed forces,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a post on Twitter.
According to CNN and other media, Russian occupying forces have installed their own leader in Melitopol..