The official noted that the Russians have turned the occupied territories of southern Ukraine into the largest prison in Europe.

Russia sent its recruiters to the territory of the temporarily occupied Melitopol to replenish the “Wagner” PVK. The Kremlin has selected Russian prison guards for this role.

As the mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov, noted, the selection is conducted mainly among captured Ukrainians.

“The Russians have turned the occupied territories of southern Ukraine into the largest prison in Europe. And they are trying to make cannon fodder for the front out of the male prisoners,” he said.

According to the official, during the occupation of the city, the Russians managed to capture thousands of peaceful Ukrainians: some of them are kept in basements, others were sent to dig trenches. Some were sentenced to life imprisonment.

“According to information from the Center of National Resistance, 3,500 elms from the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions were taken to Crimea. They are trying to recruit Ukrainians into private military companies there,” Fedorov added.

At the moment, the Russians have created at least five concentration camps for prisoners on the territory of Melitopol. They are watched by “spectators” from Russian prisons who select future “Wagnerians” from among the prisoners.

The presence of Russian troops in Melitopol

We will remind that the Russian troops managed to break through to Melitopol literally in the first days of the beginning of the invasion. Currently, the occupiers have made the city the de facto “capital” of the occupied districts of the Zaporizhzhia region.

As Fedorov previously reported, during almost a year of occupation, the Russians kidnapped thousands of citizens, some of them were forcibly relocated to other regions or Russia.

According to the press center of the Defense Forces of the Tavriya direction, as of January 31, there are signs that the occupiers are preparing to intensify hostilities in the Zaporizhia direction.

It also became known today that the Russians are actively building defense structures on this part of the front. It is, in particular, about the so-called “dragon’s teeth”.