[4] In July, it issued a decree that extended Russian 2022 war censorship laws to the oblast, and included deportation to Russia as a penalty.

[5] In September, occupation forces held largely disputed referendums in the occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblast to join the Russian Federation.

[10] The United Nations General Assembly demanded that Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw, and passed a resolution calling on countries not to recognise what it described as an "attempted illegal annexation".

[15] On 10 March, the director of the Melitopol Museum of Local History, Leila Ibragimova, was arrested at her home by Russian forces, and was detained in an unknown location.

[16] The next day, Melitopol's mayor, Ivan Fedorov, was abducted by Russian troops for refusing to cooperate with them and continuing to fly a Ukrainian flag in his office.

[17] Russian authorities did not comment on Fedorov's disappearance, but the prosecutor's office of the Luhansk People's Republic (a Russian-backed self-proclaimed breakaway state within Ukraine) accused him of "terrorist activities".

[20] The Russians proclaimed Halyna Danylchenko acting mayor of Melitopol on 12 March,[21][22] but Ukrainian sources said that Yevhen Balytskyi had become the unofficial de facto head of the city.

[35] On 23 March 2022, Mayor Fedorov reported that Melitopol was experiencing supply problems with food, medication and fuel, while the Russian military seized businesses, intimidated the local population, and held several journalists.

[40] On 28 July, Meduza reported that temporary departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation had been set up in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

[51] In spring and summer 2023, Russian forces heavily fortified areas near major cities in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in anticipation of the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive.

[52] On 8–10 September 2023, the 2023 Russian elections took place in the occupied Ukrainian territories,[53] which Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov described as "hellish pseudo-elections".

During this period, on 9 September, Fedorov reported that the headquarters of United Russia – the Russian ruling party – in the small city of Polohy was blown up.

Balitsky said that authorities had had to make "extremely harsh decisions that he will not be talking about", possibly alluding to Russian occupation forces summarily executing Ukrainian civilians, according to ISW.

On March 3, 2023, the Russia-installed regional government approved a law on administrative divisions, subdividing the de facto controlled areas into 3 cities of oblast significance and 13 districts.

The districts are Akymovka, Berdiansk, Vasylievka, Veseloye, Kamenka-Dneprovskaya, Kuibyshevo, Melitopol, Mykhailovka, Pology, Pryazovskoye, Prymorsk, Tokmak, and Chernigovka.