Ukrainian town near Chernobyl revolts against Russian occupiers and frees its mayor after families stage mass protest
- Yuri Fomichev, mayor of Slavutych, was briefly detained by Russian soldiers
- They took control of town – home to staff who work at Chernobyl nuclear site
- Hundreds of residents, and families, staged protest – despite Russians forces throwing stun grenades into the crowd, and firing into the air
The mayor of a Ukrainian town occupied by Russian forces near Chernobyl has been released from captivity after hundreds of residents, and families, staged a mass protest – despite stun grenades being thrown into the crowd.
Yuri Fomichev, mayor of Slavutych, was briefly detained by Russian soldiers after they took control of the town, which is home to staff who work at the Chernobyl nuclear site.
‘I have been released. Everything is fine, as far as it is possible under occupation,’ he said, after officials in the Ukraine capital Kyiv earlier announced he had been detained.
An agreement was reached that the Russians would leave if those with arms handed them over to the mayor with a dispensation for those with hunting rifles, according to the Guardian.
Kyiv earlier stated that Vladimir Putin’s troops had entered Slavutych and occupied the municipal hospital.
The mayor of a Ukrainian town occupied by Russian forces near Chernobyl has been released from captivity after hundreds of residents, and families, staged a mass protest – despite stun grenades being thrown into the crowd
Hundreds of residents took to the streets, carrying a large blue and yellow Ukrainian flag and heading towards the hospital, the administration said
Yuri Fomichev, mayor of Slavutych, was briefly detained by Russian soldiers after they took control of the town, which is home to staff who work at the Chernobyl nuclear site. Above, demonstrators at the scene
Fomichev (file image, above) said: ‘I have been released. Everything is fine, as far as it is possible under occupation’
Some 25,000 people live in the town 160 kilometres (99 miles) north of the capital, built after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.
Hundreds of residents took to the streets, carrying a large blue and yellow Ukrainian flag and heading towards the hospital, the administration said.
It added that Russian forces fired into the air and threw stun grenades into the crowd.
The administration also shared on its Telegram account images in which dozens of people gathered around the Ukrainian flag and chanted: ‘Glory to Ukraine’.
Governor Oleksandr Pavlyuk said on Saturday that residents of Slavutych took to the streets with Ukrainian flags to protest the Russian invasion.
The administration also shared on its Telegram account images in which dozens of people gathered around the Ukrainian flag and chanted: ‘Glory to Ukraine’
The Chernobyl plant (above) was taken by the Russian army on February 24 on the same day that Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine
‘The Russians opened fire into the air. They threw flash-bang grenades into the crowd.
‘But the residents did not disperse – on the contrary, more of them showed up,’ Pavlyuk said.
The Chernobyl plant was taken by the Russian army on February 24 on the same day that Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.
The International Atomic Energy Agency expressed ‘concern’ on Thursday after Ukraine informed the organisation of Russia’s bombardment of Slavutych.
The town’s capture comes after the first staff rotation at the Chernobyl plant last weekend since Russia took control.
About 100 Ukrainian technicians continued to run the daily operations at the radioactive site for nearly four weeks without being rotated.
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