Preparations for the Russian pseudo-referendum are underway in the occupied Melitopol of the Zaporizhzhia oblast. The occupiers are collecting data in the city, and people with a pro-Ukrainian views are promised to be forcibly deported.
Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov told how exactly this happens on the air of the telethon.
According to him, for this purpose, the Russians completely cover the neighborhoods of the city.
"For example, the Novy Melitopol district, where more than 30,000 people live, was blocked off yesterday. They [occupiers] go to every apartment, every house with a questionnaire. They ask: how many of you live here, who are your relatives, what kind of property do you have, what kind of cars do you have, how do you feel about the Rashists, how do you feel about Ukraine. If someone says that he has a good attitude towards Ukraine, they strip him and look for a tattoo. If they do not find a tattoo, they conduct a survey of relatives — who served in the ATO and who did not. If a relative served in the ATO, a full search is conducted," Fedorov said.
The mayor is sure that the Russian occupiers will prepare their pseudo-referendum based on these data. And not only that, pro-Ukrainian Melitopol residents are threatened with deportation.
"More significant is another order they issued. Those people who support Ukraine and speak Ukrainian, who say that they like Ukraine, will be evicted from the temporarily occupied territory. This is forced deportation," said the mayor of Melitopol.
Ivan Fedorov hopes that people will be sent to Vasylivka, to the demarcation line with the territory controlled by Ukraine. But it is currently unknown where exactly the Russians plan to deport people.
"I hope that, if it happens, it will be to Vasylivka. But it is quite difficult to pass through the checkpoints to the unoccupied territory. Today there is a queue of more than 500 people, among them women and children, the Rashists are not letting people out," the mayor said.