2,000 Residents Of Melitopol Evacuated On April 1 By Buses, Over 400 Passenger Cars Not Allowed By Occupiers

2,000 residents of Melitopol (Zaporizhzhia region) were evacuated on April 1 by buses, while more than 400 cars were not allowed by the Russian invaders at the checkpoint.

Mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov said this in a video message, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"It is so dangerous and impossible to live in the occupied territory that yesterday people were ready to leave in trucks, in the back, just to leave the occupied territory. Yesterday, more than 2,000 residents were evacuated from Melitopol, but the Russian occupiers at the checkpoint in Vasylivka let only buses through, and private cars were not allowed through. And more than 400 passenger cars stood at the checkpoint in Vasylivka yesterday and were forced to stay overnight at the plant. They are still not allowed through the checkpoint," he said.

Federov noted that it is about 2,000 residents who are being held hostage by the occupiers.

He suggests that the Russian military is holding people at the checkpoint as human shields.

Fedorov also said that on Saturday the occupiers demanded that people provide their last names, first names and car numbers for some kind of identification and verification, and only after that they would decide whether or not to let them go to the territory controlled by Ukraine.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on April 1, French President Emmanuel Macron received Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fyodorov, released from Russian captivity, at the Elysee Palace.