Published 13th Mar, 2022

By Tola Owoyele

Russian soldiers have reportedly kidnapped Yevhen Matviiv, the city head of Dniprorudne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southeastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government claims Matviiv was abducted after refusing to cooperate with the soldiers on Sunday.

According to The Kyiv Independent, Matviiv becomes the second mayor in Zaporizhzhia to be captured by Russian forces since the Russian invasion started on February 24.

Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, another municipality under the region was allegedly ‘kidnapped’ and taken away with a plastic bag over his head by ten Russian soldiers on March 11.

As an aftermath of Fedorov’s abduction, more than 2,000 residents of the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk staged a rally to support the mayor on Saturday, while Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, also demanded for his immediate and unconditional release.

However, in a shocking move, Russian military forces installed Galina Danilchenko, a former member of the Melitopol city council as acting mayor the following day.

“War crimes are becoming systemic,” said Olexandr Straukh, head of Zaporizhzhia regional administration.

Russia has however not commented on the incident.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and went on to launch strikes across the country. The war has triggered a massive refugee crisis and resulted in the death of several civilians.

Ukraine has also claimed that more than 12,000 Russian troops have been killed in the war so far.

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