The Russian occupiers captured at least five representatives of the local authorities of the temporarily occupied or besieged Ukrainian cities. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk; her briefing was published on the YouTube channel.

The occupiers captured:

• the mayor of Dniprorudny Evgeny Matveev;
• the chairman of the Melitopol regional council Sergey Prima;
• the chairman of the Ivankovsky regional administration Tatyana Sviridenko;
• the head of the Schastye city administration Vladimir Tyurin;
• Secretary of the Skadovsk City Council Yuri Palyukh.

Rescuer Alexei Danchenko, who helped evacuate people from Gostomel, also remains in captivity. Vereshchuk noted that the Ukrainian authorities are stepping up efforts to release the captured citizens.

The mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov, was also held captive by the occupiers. He was abducted on March 11 from the city's crisis center.

On March 16, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said that Fedorov had been released from captivity. The Office of the President reported that Fedorov was exchanged for a soldier of the Russian Armed Forces born in 2002-2003.