Local councilman kidnapped by Russian forces in Ukraine’s Kherson Region

Ihor Protokovylo, a city council member of Nova Kakhovka, a city in Ukraine’s Kherson Region, was kidnapped by Russian forces on April 19, the city council stated on Facebook.

“On April 19, the Russian forces took a resident of Nova Kakhovka, a member of the Nova Kakhovka City Council <...> Protokovylo Ihor Anatoliiovych (born in 1989) from his own home,”  the statement reads.

Currently, Protokovylo’s location is unknown.

The Russian military entered Kherson on March 3. There have been numerous reports of kidnappings of local residents since the start of Russia’s de facto occupation of the city.

In late March, local officials stated that Oleksandr Babych, mayor of Hola Prystan, another city in the Kherson Region, and seven local residents had been kidnapped. On April 27, Ukraine intelligence services reported mass kidnappings of young draft age men by the Russian forces.