The Security Service of Ukraine on Dec. 29 charged Poltava Mayor Oleksandr Mamai with illegally divulging the positions of Ukrainian troops during martial law.
Mamai has a controversial background and is known for his pro-Russian views. He was a member of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych's pro-Kremlin Party of Regions in 2012-2014.
In 2021 he said that the Russians and Ukrainians were "brotherly nations", while the war in the Donbas was a conflict between the U.S. and Russia.
Mamai has also been involved in corruption scandals.
In 2015, Larysa Golnyk, Ukraine's most famous whistleblower judge, published video footage featuring Mamai pressuring her to close a corruption case against him. Mamai, who denied the accusations, has been investigated for pressuring Golnyk but has not faced official charges.
Golnyk also published footage of Mamai's deputy Dmytro Trykhna unsuccessfully trying to bribe her in exchange for closing the case against Mamai. In January Trykhna was given a 2-year suspended sentence for offering the bribe.
In 2018 the city council stripped Mamai of his status of mayor amid the corruption scandals around him. However, he was re-elected as mayor in 2020.
