February 8, 2023, 14:50

50,000-60,000 residents remain in Melitopol: this is one third of pre-February 24, 2022 population — Mayor

About a third of the population that lived in Melitopol before the all-out war lives in the city now. Currently, people have several ways to leave the occupation. Ivan Fedorov, Mayor of Melitopol, made this statement at a briefing at Media Center Ukraine — Ukrinform.

“According to preliminary estimates, 50,000-60,000 residents remain on the territory of temporarily occupied Melitopol, which is about a third of the population pre-February 24 last year. Today, there are several ways to leave: it is an exit through the temporarily occupied Crimea, then to the nearest airport in russia, and departure to Moldova, Türkiye or any country that still has air connection with russia; or going through Georgia or the EU by car or bus,” — said Fedorov.

The Mayor also talked about how the Ukrainian authorities are helping people to evacuate.

“In Melitopol, we have an active program, as a part of which we escort residents to Romania, where the EU state provides them with both housing and food. We also escort our residents leaving via Crimea to Romania,” — Fedorov added.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news