Officials: Abducted Ukrainian mayor has been freed

UKRAINE (WAND) - Ivan Federov, the recently abducted mayor of Melitopol, Ukraine, has been freed, per Ukrainian officials.

Olexander Scherba, Ukraine's ambassador to Austria, shared a video of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking to the freed Federov by phone. Russia had allegedly kidnapped Federov in March.

Zelenskyy told the mayor he was "happy that we got you back."

A report from Newsweek said news of Federov's freedom was shared by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian Office of the President. Tymoshenko reported there was a successful operation to free Federov. He added Federov is expected to "soon return to his duties."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine had called the capture of Federov "a war crime under the Geneva Conventions."

Federov paid a visit to central Illinois in February 2018, when he visited as part of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation Open World Delegation.