Kiev, 29 June 2022 (dpa/MIA) - Russian troops have detained the former mayor of the occupied city of Kherson in southern Ukraine. The deputy head of Kherson's pro-Russian military administration, Kirill Stremoussov, confirmed the detention of Ihor Kolykhaiev on Tuesday to Russian news agency RIA Novosti. Kolykhaiev had openly called for city administration employees to sabotage and ignore the new administration's instructions, Stremoussov said in explanation of the arrest. Kolykhaiev, Kherson's elected mayor, remained in the city after Russian occupation but refused to cooperate with Russian forces. Stremoussov said Kolykhaiev was a "hero of the Nazi environment" and had greatly contributed to harming the "denazification" of Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly sought to justify its war in Ukraine with the pretext that it wants to "denazify" its neighbour. According to his assistant Galina Liashchevska, Kolykhaiev was detained by Russia's National Guard and FSB domestic intelligence agency, after a meeting with other former city council members. She termed his detention an abduction.