<figure id="attachment_234495" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 3000px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-234495"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="87c1806c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/03/aflo_183359789.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-234495" class="wp-caption-text">In Ukraine, civilians are increasingly being harmed in attacks on buildings unrelated to military installations, such as hospitals and apartment buildings (Image: AFP/Afro)</figcaption></figure>
 Suddenly, he had a gun. 10 A group of about three people in military uniforms burst into the office. They wrapped the head of the mayor, who was inside the room, in a plastic bag. They then forcefully took the mayor away, intimidating everyone around them.
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 According to the Ukrainian government, in March 11 Ivan Fedorov, mayor of Melitopol in the southern part of the city, was abducted from the crisis center where he worked on March 16 (he was released on March 16). The city was overrun by Russian forces in early March. In a video message, Ukrainian President Zelensky said, &#8220;The mayor is a brave man protecting his citizens. Russian terrorism has entered a new phase,&#8221; he condemned.
 Mayor Fedorov was not the only public figure abducted. The Ukrainian government claims that the governor of the southern province of Saporozhye and the mayor of Dniprodne were also taken by Russian forces.
 Public figures are not the only ones who have been victimized; March On March 12 On April 1, the mayor of the city, Fedorov, was demanded to be released. 2000 More than 100,000 citizens gathered in the city&#8217;s The demonstration was held with shouts of A woman and several others who organized the demonstration were abducted by a group of people dressed in black.
 There is no end to the information that civilians have been detained by the Russian military. Abduction of civilians is a clear violation of international law. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement of protest, saying, &#8216;Taking civilians hostage constitutes a war crime as stipulated by the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the taking of civilians hostage'&#8221; (reporter from the international section of a national newspaper).
<h2>1,000 new assassination squad for president</h2>
 On the Russian side, on the other hand, an intelligence website of military forces stated that Mayor Fedorov &#8220;is under investigation for suspected funding of extremist organizations. The &#8220;acting mayor,&#8221; appointed by the Russian military, has called on citizens not to participate in militant activities.
 &#8220; On March 5, U.S. media &#8220; CNN is a Russian assassination squad. 1000 The report said that a new group of people is scheduled to be sent to Ukraine. Already in the capital city of Kiev 400 About 2,000 mercenaries have been deployed. So far, at least three assassination attempts have been carried out against President Zelensky. Information from an inside source in the Russian government&#8217;s intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, seems to be able to prevent this from happening.
 Assassination targets include the president, other government officials, and the president&#8217;s wife. 24 The number of people involved in the project is estimated to be as high as 1,000. The main force deployed is mercenaries from Wagner, a private military company renowned for its brutality. It is rumored that they may have been involved in the abduction of public figures and citizens.
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 There is another view. It was not an assassination squad that took the civilians, but ordinary soldiers on the ground,&#8221; said Itsuro Nakamura, a professor at Tsukuba University and an expert on the situation in Russia.
 There is widespread corruption within the Russian military,&#8221; said Itsuro Nakamura, a professor at Tsukuba University and an expert on Russian affairs. High-ranking officials are embezzling defense funds and lining their own pockets. As a result, soldiers in the field do not receive sufficient compensation or food, and morale is extremely low. They manage to live day by day by selling weapons and supplies.
 I believe that the soldiers are responsible for the successive abductions of Ukrainians. By holding the mayors and others, they are supposedly demanding ransom from their families. Unlike the assassination squads that are working under Putin&#8217;s orders, this is probably a money-grubbing rampage. The Russian military is like a mafia group with no real discipline.&#8221;
 The abductions have exposed the lack of control in the Russian military. The outrageous behavior of these outlaws, who do not even abide by international rules, is drawing increasing criticism from around the world.

 AFP/Afro

 The Russian military is abducting one after another mayors, provincial governors, and other public figures and civilians who have nothing to do with the military. There are reports of an assassination squad of 1,000 men against President Zelensky. We followed their unexpected intentions and the appalling background.

Mayors and Governors One After Another…The “Dangerous Background” of the Abduction of Ukrainians by Russian Forces

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