Melitopol mayor abducted by Russian forces freed

A monument in Melitopol, Ukraine.
(Image credit: Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

Ivan Federov, the mayor of Melitopol, Ukraine, was freed on Wednesday, five days after he was abducted by Russian forces.

Ukrainian diplomat Olexander Scherba tweeted that Ukraine conducted a "special operation" and rescued Federov "from captivity in the occupied Luhansk." After Federov was abducted on Friday, the prosecutor's office in the separatist Luhansk People's Republic accused him of terrorist offenses.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.