Ukraine blames Russia for Melitopol mayor’s abduction, calls it ‘war crime’

The Ukrainian foreign ministry on Friday accused Russian forces of committing yet another “war crime,” hours after the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, under Russian occupation, was abducted by armed men.

“Armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine is accompanied by gross violations of norms and principles of international law, including international humanitarian law, war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as other violations of human rights on the side of the Russian army,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a strongly worded statement on posted on Facebook.

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“One of such gross violations was the abduction of March 11 Mayor of the city of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov,” the statement continued, directly blaming Russia for the abduction.

“The abduction of the mayor of Melitopol is classified as a war crime under the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocol banning the capture of civilian hostages during the war,” the foreign ministry further said.

Hours before the statement, CNN reported that Fedorov was seen being taken away from a government building by armed men. Shortly afterwards, the Russia-backed Luhansk regional prosecutor claimed that Fedorov had been taken away to be investigated for terrorism.

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Fedorov’s “abduction” is the latest in a string of events that Ukraine has described as Russian war crimes, including strikes on various civilian targets including television and radio stations and lines, a maternity ward, and more.

However, despite Ukraine’s calls to the international community to recognise Russian attacks on civilians as war crimes, world leaders such as US President Joe Biden have stopped short of calling them war crimes despite acknowledging that Russian forces were indeed targeting civilians.