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Reuters
Reuters
Politics
By Max Hunder

Ukrainians in occupied Melitopol fear Russian call-up - exiled mayor

FILE PHOTO: A flag flies in a square in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine August 3, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

Ukrainians in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol fear they will be called up by Moscow following a referendum on joining Russia in which some residents were forced to vote at gunpoint, its exiled mayor said on Monday.

Mayor Ivan Fedorov said the last official route out of Melitopol to territory controlled by Ukraine had been closed, and that residents' concerns had risen since voting began in the four-day referendum on Friday.

Ballots lay on the table at a polling station during a referendum on the secession of Zaporizhzhia region from Ukraine and its joining Russia, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 26, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

"Our residents are frightened, they are panicking, they don't know what will happen tomorrow, and when people will start being called up (to Russia's army)," he told a news briefing via video link.

Melitopol, in southeastern Ukraine, was one of the first cities to fall after Russia's invasion in February. It is one of four regions to hold referendums that Kyiv says are a sham.

Fedorov said he believed the main reason for holding the referendums was to enable Moscow to conscript Ukrainians following Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement of a partial mobilization last week.

A woman walks past a banner informing about a referendum on the joining of Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine to Russia, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 26, 2022. The banner reads: "Russia is order" REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

"The voting takes place in front of assault rifles, (Russian) men with weapons," Fedorov said.

"People are grabbed (by Russian soldiers) right on the street and forced to vote, not only for themselves but for their whole families. When they (the soldiers) enter a rental house with the tenant inside, they make him vote for every person registered in that particular building."

Fedorov said that passage through the Vasylivka crossing, the only official way to reach territory controlled by Kyiv, had been closed to men aged 18-35 for four days and was completely shut on Sunday.

A man walks with his bicycle past banners informing about a referendum on the joining of Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine to Russia, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 26, 2022. The banner (C) reads: "Future. 23-27 September 2022". REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

Reuters was unable immediately to independently verify the status of the crossing or the situation in Melitopol.

The referendums on becoming part of Russia were organised hastily after Ukraine recaptured large swathes of the northeast. Russia's parliament could move to formalise the annexations within days.

(Reporting by Max Hunder, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

A man crosses a street as a banner informing about a referendum on the joining of Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine to Russia is seen in the background, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 26, 2022. The banner reads: "Future. 23-27 September 2022". REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
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