A senior official on Wednesday said that Ukraine has managed to rescue Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov, who was detained by armed men in the Russian-occupied city on March 11. 

In a statement on Telegram, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior official in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, said that the mayor will return to his duties.  

“A special operation to release the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov has just been successfully completed. Vanya is safe. We just talked to him together with the president and the head of the Office. I would like to say only one thing – we never leave our people. Ivan will return to his duties as mayor of Ukrainian Melitopol,” Tymoshenko said.