Russia has blocked exits from the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol for the second day in a row, according to the city’s mayor, Ivan Fedorov. Russian forces “were so afraid of a counterattack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine that they have covered themselves with thousands of civilians as human shields,” said Fedorov, who is not in Melitopol. The whole city is hostage,” he added. Fedorov said the Russians had closed the checkpoint at Vasilivka — the main crossing point for civilian traffic trying to reach other parts of Ukraine. On Monday, Fedorov said the Russians had sealed off the western part of Melitopol, trapping “tens of thousands of citizens of the residential neighborhood.” Like parts of the neighboring Kherson region, Melitopol has seen strikes by Ukrainian forces well behind the front lines in recent days. The Russian-appointed head of the regional administration in Melitopol, Yevgeniy Balitskiy, said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday that the Ukrainian government “has turned into ISIS: they blow up bridges, carry out attacks on public figures,” an apparent reference to the reported. assassination attempt on a pro-Russian local official, Andriy Siguta, whose car was blown up. “This won’t change anything,” Balitsky said. “The people of Zaporozhzhia region have already made their choice…The liberated part of Zaporozhzhia region will become part of [the Russian Federation] through a referendum”. Fedorov claimed heavy casualties in a Ukrainian attack on a Russian garrison in Melitopol on Saturday night, saying the occupation forces “don’t know where to put the bodies of the dead Russian soldiers”. “Forensic doctors don’t want to cooperate and don’t issue death certificates because they don’t want to cooperate with the Russians,” Fedorov said. Last week, Fedorov said there were more than 30 strikes on a single military base outside the city. CNN cannot confirm the extent of damage or casualties caused by the Ukrainian strikes against Russian forces in the region.
