11 local mayors abducted by Russian forces, claims Ukraine's deputy PM

Ukraine's deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk claimed that Olga Sukhenko, head of the village of Motyjin, and her husband had been killed in captivity by Russian soldiers.

Ukraine on Sunday claimed that 11 local community leaders have been allegedly abducted by Russian forces, news agency AFP reported as the war entered the 39th day. "Up to today, 11 heads of local communities in the regions of Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Donetsk are in captivity," deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a video message posted on her Telegram account. 

A soldier takes a photograph of his comrade as he poses beside a destroyed Russian tank and armoured vehicles, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine in Bucha, in Kyiv region(Reuters)

"We are informing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN, all possible organisations, just like for the other civilians who have disappeared," she added. 

Vereshchuk urged "everyone to do everything in their power to get them back."

The deputy prime minister announced the that Olga Sukhenko, head of the village of Motyjin, west of Kyiv, and her husband had been "killed in captivity" by Russian soldiers. In another development, the local Luhanks governor claimed that mayors of four cities- Rubizhne, Stanytsia Luhanska, Milove and Markivka, switched their allegiance and were now working for Russia, The Kyiv Independent reported.

The fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces have entered the 39th consecutive day. The Russian forces said they had struck an oil processing plant and fuel depots around the strategic Black Sea port of Odesa, news agency AP reported. 

The regional governor in Kharkiv said Russian troops continued shelling the city in northeast Ukraine. Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Synyehubov said on Sunday that Russian artillery and tanks carried out over 20 strikes on Kharkiv and its outskirts over the past 24 hours.

Moscow's chief negotiator told Bloomberg that Russia and Ukraine will resume talks by video, claiming that Kyiv was becoming more ‘realistic’ in its positions. However, a top Ukrainian official said that the evidence of Russian military crimes had come to light after its forces retreat from positions near Kyiv.