The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Marc Cools, has made the following statement:
"I am saddened and dismayed to learn about the death of Yevhen Matvieiev, mayor of the temporarily occupied town of Dniprorudne in Ukraine, in Russian captivity.
"I pay tribute to Mayor Matvieiev's courage and determination, and reiterate the Congress' condemnation, in the strongest terms, of the abductions of mayors and other local officials in the temporarily occupied territories.
"Mayor of НоІа Prystan (Kherson oblast) Oleksandr Babych, Kherson City Mayor lhor Kolykhaiev and Starosta of Novi Borovychi (Chernihiv oblast) Anatolii Siryi continue to be illegally detained by the Russian occupation forces and should be freed immediately. Their whereabouts should be confirmed as a matter of priority.
"Reports of Ukrainians being detained arbitrarily by Russia's forces are shocking and numerous. They confirm a widespread use of inhuman or degrading treatment and torture. All abductions and arbitrary detentions amount to grave human rights violations for which the accountability should be established and enforced."
