Exiled Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov urged men aged 17-35 to the leave occupied territories in  Zaporizhzhya following the reports men of that age group have been blocked at Vasylivka checkpoint from leaving Russian-controlled territory.

Men should seek exit by going via Crimea to Georgia. ‘Such [exit ban] practice will continue. The occupiers’ aim is mobilization of our men as cannon fodder for the front,’ warned Fedorov.

He referred to the war-time experience in Donbas where local separatists in 2014  had an open season for men. It can happen now in Kherson and Zaporizhzhya.

‘It is necessary to try to go right away toward Zaporizhzhya, or take the alternative route- to Georia via the temporarily occupied Crimea. There is little time left,’ said Fedorov.

The warming came the mere day after Russia’s president called the ‘partial’ mobilization for ‘Russia’s defense’.