A Ukrainian mayor who was 'psychologically tortured' by Russian forces for six days after he was kidnapped said his life and the lives of civilians was 'worth zero' to Vladimir Putin's men.
Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol which is now under Russian control, said that Russian soldiers had 'assumed they would be welcomed in Ukraine' when they invaded but instead they were met with strong resistance, which made them 'very angry'.
Fedorov was abducted on March 11 after Russian forces seized Melitopol in southeastern Ukraine and kept for six days before he was released in a prisoner exchange on March 16, Kyiv said.
'It was a dangerous six days because I understood that for Russians my life and the lives of civilians were worth zero,' Fedorov said in Rome where he visited Pope Francis.
Ivan Fedorov (pictured), the mayor of Melitopol, which is now under Russian control, said that Russian soldiers had 'assumed they would be welcomed in Ukraine' when they invaded but instead they were met with strong resistance, which made them 'very angry'
A woman holds a child inside an evacuee bus as people flee from Melitopol and Mariupol
Describing his detention by Russian forces in Melitopol's police department, Fedorov said: 'They came to me at night with five or seven soldiers and spoke for about four or five hours, hard dialogue.'
'They wanted to make an example of me about what would happen if we did not agree to what the Russians wanted,' the mayor told Reuters and the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, saying he had faced 'psychological' but not physical torture.
'Russian soldiers assumed that they would be welcomed but they were not... and that is why the Russians were very, very angry,' he said.
'There is no food in my city. There is no pharmacy. Half of my city is wrecked. More than 200 people have been kidnapped. It is not safe to walk the streets,' he said.
Chilling CCTV footage showed the moment Fedorov had a plastic bag placed over his head as he was escorted out of a building and across Melitopol's Victory Square by 10 armed men.
Dozens of heroic Ukrainian residents went out to protest against the mayor's kidnapping in Melitopol last month, with video showing the civilians brawling with Russian troops.
Video posted online shows a Russian soldier forcefully shoving one protester back into the crowd of demonstrators chanting anti-Moscow slogans.
The soldier first pushes the protester back with his hand before using his weapon to scare off other demonstrators who step forward to attack the Russian.
Dozens of heroic Ukrainian residents went out to protest against the mayor's kidnapping in Melitopol last month, with video showing the civilians brawling with Russian troops
