He added: “Do you hear it, Moscow? If 2,000 people are protesting against the occupation in Melitopol, how many people in Moscow should be against the war?”
Mr. Zelensky said he had raised the fate of the mayor in calls with the leaders of Germany and France. In the United Nations Security Council, Ukraine’s ambassador also asked the Russians to release him.
“We expect them, the world leaders, to show how they can influence the situation,” Mr. Zelensky said. “How they can do a simple thing — free one person, a person who represents the entire Melitopol community, Ukrainians who do not give up.”
Mr. Zelensky said what he called the “kidnapping” of the mayor was part of a broader shift in tactics. “They have switched to a new stage of terror, when they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of the legitimate local Ukrainian authorities,” he said.
Sergey Minko, who represents Melitopol in the Verkhovna Rada, the national Parliament, accused the Russians of violating human rights. “The war is gaining momentum,” he wrote on Facebook, “The occupiers are increasingly defying the norms and principles of international law, in particular humanitarian law.”
He described Mr. Fyodorov as a “wonderful” mayor who had managed to keep city services running during the invasion.
When people waving the blue and gold of the Ukrainian flag took to the streets of Melitopol last weekend, Mr. Fyodorov encouraged the demonstration. In his most recent post on Facebook, he thanked business leaders who were helping the community in the moment of strife. “Together we will overcome anything!” he said.
Marc Santora reported from Lviv, Ukraine, and Neil MacFarquhar from New York. Sophia Kishkovsky contributed reporting.
