Mayor: Russian forces prevent civilians from evacuating occupied territories
Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov said in a briefing on Oct. 14 that over 4,000 people are stuck at a checkpoint at Vasylivka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, awaiting entry into Ukrainian-controlled territory. Fedorov noted that Russian forces permit no more than 20 to 30 cars to leave Russian-occupied territory through the checkpoint per day. On Oct. 8, Fedorov reported that over 6,000 civilians were stuck at the checkpoint for 10 days.