A day after the elected mayor of Melitopol, Ukraine, was kidnapped by a squad of 10 Russian soldiers, Russian military forces have installed a new mayor.
The change of the guard was broadcasted on local TV Saturday when a former member of the city council, Galina Danilchenko, was proclaimed the acting mayor, CNN reported.
Ukraine's parliament reported that the city's elected mayor, Ivan Fedorov, was taken on Friday from the town's crisis center with a plastic bag over his head because he "refused to cooperate with the enemy."
The Russian-occupied city lies in the Kremlin-backed rebel region of Luhansk.
Upwards of 2,000 residents in the city called for Fedorov's release during a rally on Saturday, followed by President Volodymyr Zelensky demanding his release.
Russia has continued to wage war on Ukraine for almost two and a half weeks now, causing millions to flee the country and more than 500 civilian deaths.
The very public appointment of Danilchenko also comes a week after the third round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials failed to reach an agreement.
Following Danilchenko being appointed the new mayor of the city, just outside the nation's capital to the north, an American journalist was killed in Russian fire, and to the west, a base near the Poland border was struck by a Russian airstrike killing 35.
The newly appointed mayor, Danilchenko, said in a televised statement that her goal was to get Melitopol "back to normal." However, she also seemed to threaten anyone that would "provoke a reaction of bad behavior."
"I appeal to the deputies, elected by the people, on all levels," Danilchenko said. "Since you were elected by the people, it is your duty to care about the well-being of your citizens."
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