232 local residents are still held captive by the Russians in the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia region. Such a statement made Oleksandr Starukh, Head of the Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration.

“232 people are still in captivity. These are representatives of the authorities, businessmen, and heads of enterprises. The purpose of the kidnapping is different: to rob, to force cooperation”, - said Starukh.

He also commented on the explosions that rang out in the temporarily occupied Melitopol the day before at Russian military bases and as a result of which many invaders were killed and wounded.

“In Melitopol, they just celebrated the birthday of one unworthy person, and they celebrated very loudly. So, as it usually happens, spontaneous combustion occurred. They must be carrying something wrong with them. That is why there were explosions and, accordingly, many victims, those who mishandled fire and did not observe safety techniques”, - added Starukh.