Russian occupiers trying to instill fear in Melitopol residents before city's liberation - Mayor Fedorov

The mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov, told about this on Espreso.

"The pressure on local residents is increasing. In recent weeks and days, the Russian forces have been putting psychological pressure on our residents. They have realized that after a year of occupation, they cannot find any support from Ukrainians. The Russian military have started to drive them into fear and panic. One of the main methods of terror is when Russians simply dress in civilian clothes and stand in lines, mostly where there are elderly people, and start talking about how the Ukrainian Armed Forces will abuse the residents after the city is de-occupied. This is not true and does not correspond to reality," he said.

According to the mayor, this is one of the elements of their propaganda aimed at increasing terror and panic in the temporarily occupied territories.

"Passportization has also intensified. In Tokmak, they have set up a migration service office at the entrance to hospitals, and if you want to get help, you have to apply for a passport. They are doing this with the understanding that they will soon leave and want to involve as many people as possible in their crime and thus drive them into fear that they will have problems after de-occupation," Fedorov summarized.