At the Russian checkpoint in Vasylivka, 1 200 cars and more than 5 000 people are waiting to leave for Zaporizhzhia. Five people have already died in the queue.
The mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, reported this on the air of a nationwide telethon.
According to him, some still manage to leave the occupied territory, but the Russians allow from 20 to 150 cars a day. This is approximately 500 people, but the demand for departure is much higher, and the queue in Vasylivka grows every day.
"There are absolutely terrible things when the Rashists approach our people and say: ʼIf one of the seriously ill wants to start a rally here, we can shoot right now in the landing,ʼ" told the mayor of Melitopol.
Fedorov also said that the regional military administration appealed to both the Red Cross and the UN with a request to resolve this issue. And at the end of last week, together with the Ministry of Reintegration, they appealed to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with a request to organize an evacuation corridor so that Ukrainians could leave through Vasylivka without restrictions, in one queue.
But the Russians replied in a dignified manner that they did not find anyone in the city of Melitopol willing to leave for the territory controlled by Ukraine.
"And we clearly understand that if the hostilities will be more active in Kherson, in Nova Kakhovka, Melitopol or Pology, the queue will be longer. And all the more, the Rashists will accumulate our people and use them as a human shield," noted Ivan Fedorov.
- 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 position are promised to be forcibly deported. Also, a second wave of kidnappings began in the city.