Russian troops hold captive more than 700 Melitopol residents, some are in captivity for 11 months

Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov reports that over 700 people have been held captive during the 11 months of the city’s occupation, some of them have been imprisoned since February or March

He shared the information on Telegram.

"Over the 11 months of occupation, Russian invaders have taken thousands of civilians prisoner. In Melitopol, more than 700 people ended up in captivity. Dozens of them have been imprisoned for 10 to 11 months and nothing is known about their fate," the mayor said. 

He also claimed that the Kremlin issued an order to establish 28 prisons on the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, including 2 penal colonies and a settlement colony.

Moreover, 13 prisons are planned to be deployed in the Donetsk region, 8 in the Luhansk region, 4 in Kherson region, and 3 in Zaporizhzhia region.

Earlier, the mayor said that Russian troops still prevent Ukrainians from leaving the occupied territories, an evacuation corridor has been inaccessible since December 15, and Ukrainians deported from the Russian-occupied territories to Zaporizhzhia, are disappearing near demarcation line in Vasylivka.