Oleg Bazar, editor in chief LB.ua
The Russian invaders captured the mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, showing their weakness, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelentskyy in his address.
"They (the Russians - LB.ua) found no support on our land, although they were counting on it. They've been lying to themselves for years, saying that someone is waiting for Russia in Ukraine. They couldn't find collaborators to surrender cities and power to the occupation, said the President. So, they switched to another form of terror, trying to eliminate local Ukrainian authorities." According to the President, every democracy in the world would recognize an elected mayor as the people's representative.
"Probably, Russians forgot during the years of totalitarian rule: for them, a mayor is just a manager, easy to remove. But here, it's Ukraine; it's Europe; it's democracy. The kidnapping of the mayor of Melitopol is not only a crime against an individual, it's not only a crime against Ukraine, it's a crime against democracy."
The President assured that everyone living in democratic countries would learn about the kidnapping and would compare Russians' actions to the terrorist acts of ISIS.
"Everyone in the country saw that Melitopol did not surrender to the occupants, and neither did Kherson, Berdyansk and other towns the Russians managed to occupy temporarily. Putting pressure on mayors or kidnapping them will not change this fact; it will only worsen the situation. He added, to the occupants: Ukraine is demanding to liberate the mayor of Melitopol immediately and guarantee the safety of all our elected officials. If you become the equivalent of ISIS terrorists, what's the point of talking to you?"
Volodymyr Zelenskyy reminded that on March 11, the Russian forces prevented safe passage through most of the humanitarian corridors.
"Despite all, we managed to save a total of 7 144 people from Enerhodar, Bucha, Gostomel and Kozarovychy. These are 7 144 reasons to keep trying to organize the rescue of Ukrainians tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, he assured. We will keep doing that, and we will be doing everything possible to get humanitarian cargo to Ukrainian cities. It pains me to say that: Mariupol remains under the enemy's siege. The Russian troops did not let our aid into the city and kept torturing our people, our people of Mariupol. Still, we will try tomorrow. We'll try to get food, water and medicine to our city."
Zelensky added, "I am sure that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will make them pay for every minute of our people's suffering. This is not pathos, nor a threat; it's just stating the facts."