Ukraine mayor says Russian soldiers who kidnapped him knew nothing about his country

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NPR
@NPR
Melitopol's mayor, Ivan Fedorov appeared on television to describe what his town has been dealing with since being kidnapped by Russian soldiers.

He says he was interrogated by five soldiers who were completely unprepared and knew nothing about Ukraine.

npr.org
Ukraine mayor says Russian soldiers who kidnapped him knew nothing about his country
Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov was held by Russian forces for five days. They told him they wanted to free his town from Nazis. "I told them in my 30 years in this town I've never seen a single Nazi."
6:00 PM · Mar 31, 2022

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1090067116/ukraine-mayor-says-russian-soldiers-who-kidnapped-him-knew-nothing-about-his-cou

PARIS — The 33-year-old mayor of the Ukrainian town of Melitopol was kidnapped by Russian forces in early March and held for five days. Now Ivan Fedorov is in France to bear witness to his town's occupation by the Russians, and he says the soldiers who interrogated him knew nothing about the town or Ukraine.

Fedorov appeared on French television channel BFM TV to describe what his town has been living through. The boyish-looking mayor said his town in the southern, Zaporizhzhia region woke up to war on Feb. 24, when missiles struck a military airport just a few hundred yards from some apartment buildings.

He said Russian forces are becoming increasingly aggressive because their plans for a lightning war didn't work out and his town's resistance has made them angry.

"They saw that the citizens were not welcoming them. To the contrary, people have been openly opposing the aggressor," Fedorov said.

"Citizens have been coming out — thousands at a time — in plazas and streets despite armed soldiers, and yelling, 'Leave our town!' I am amazed by their courage," he said.

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