The head of the Association of Cities of Ukraine, Vitaliy Klitschko, said that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russians have kidnapped 30 mayors of Ukrainian cities. Seven of them are still considered missing, including the mayor of Kherson Ihor Kolykhaev.
Klitschko told about this in an interview with The Spiegel.
"Mayors were targets everywhere. The Russians tried to arrest the mayors and use various methods to force them to cooperate," said the mayor of the capital.
According to him, the government did not give a clear answer to local officials on whether to leave their city in the event of a potential occupation or not.
"The situation was difficult: if you stay with your community, you are a traitor... We asked the government several times to give instructions: stay or evacuate. But we did not receive a clear answer," added Klitschko.
- Since June 28, 2022, no one has heard anything about Kherson Mayor Ihor Kolykhayev. He remained in Kherson despite the occupation, saying that he was fulfilling his duty to the voters. The head of the regional military administration at the time, Hennady Lahuta, criticized Kolykhaev for such a step. In the end, the mayor was kidnapped and allegedly taken to the Left Bank region, where he was being held captive.