“Someone was tortured in the next cell, screams were heard”: released mayor of Melitopol Fedorov gave the first interview

Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov, who was released from captivity, told how he was pressured by the Russian occupiers in the Melitopol pre-trial detention center. He says that up to seven soldiers with weapons were sometimes in the cell when they were negotiating with him.

Fedorov's words are quoted by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

"They didn't touch me with their hands, but believe me, the seven people with weapons who are nearby are enough to convincingly prove their position. Or someone was tortured in the next cell, and there were screams that are psychologically oppressive so that it is absolutely comparable to pressure, torture, and so on," he said.

Fedorov noted that all these six days were "quite difficult." He says that the first attempt to exchange him was unsuccessful. He was carried in a car for seven hours with a bag on his head. The occupiers made several demands on Fedorov.

"They wanted to get a resignation letter from me, to get some documents for the appointment of some deputies, to perform some duties. But these people are absolutely illiterate, they don't understand anything in the Ukrainian legislation," the mayor explained.

He says that in Ukraine the mayor cannot resign with his stroke of the pen; his resignation must be approved by deputies of the city council. And the occupiers don't understand that the mayor cannot appoint a deputy; deputies of the city council must vote for it.

To recap, the day before, on March 16, we managed to release the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov. He was exchanged for 9 Russian prisoners of war.