Odesa mayor is a Russian citizen but passport published by Ukrainian intelligence is fake, journalists claim
Databases confirm that Odesa Mayor Hennady Trukhanov is a Russian citizen but his alleged Russian passport published by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) is fake, the Insider, a Russian investigative journalism outlet, claimed on Oct. 15.
The SBU did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Based on Trukhanov's Russian citizenship, President Volodymyr Zelensky stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship on Oct. 14. Trukhanov has denied being a Russian citizen.
Since Ukrainian officials are banned from holding dual citizenship, he is expected to be removed from office. In an effort to replace Trukhanov, Zelensky appointed Serhii Lysak as head of the the newly formed Odesa Military Administration on Oct. 15.
On Oct. 14, SBU published what it alleged to be a copy of Trukhanov's passport and documents from Russia's Federal Migration Service confirming that he has Russian citizenship.
Trukhanov did have two Russian passports — one with the number starting with 4604 issued on April 15, 2003, and one whose number starts with 4611 issued on March 24, 2011, the Insider reported, citing Russian official databases.
Meanwhile, the SBU published an alleged copy of Trukhanov's passport whose number starts with 7123 and which was issued on Dec. 15, 2015.
The Insider argued that the copy is fake.
According to the Russian system of assigning passport numbers, this passport was issued on Nov. 2, 2010, the Insider reported.
The passport with this number was in fact issued on that day to a Russian citizen named Tatyana who has used this passport to travel abroad, according to the Insider.
Christo Grozev, head of investigations at the Insider, argued on X that the allegedly fake passport "likely originates from a Russian active measure against the incumbent mayor."
Since 2014, several documents confirming Trukhanov's Russian citizenship have been published by Ukrainian lawmakers Yegor Firsov and Volodymyr Aryev and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
Trukhanov’s Russian citizenship was also confirmed at Odesa’s Malinovsky Court in 2019, where a corruption case against the mayor was being considered.
A person with the same full name, birth place and birth date received one Russian passport in the republic of Dagestan in 2002 and another Russian passport in the city of Sergiyev Posad in Moscow Oblast in 2003, prosecutors said at the court, citing responses sent by Russian authorities.
The passports were annulled in 2017 due to alleged procedural violations, according to Russian authorities.
Russia’s Sergiyev Posad Court has published its 2017 decision on canceling Trukhanov’s Russian passport.
Trukhanov's representative claimed in court that the mayor had not applied for the passport, found out about its existence from the Internet and decided to annul it.
However, the annulment of a Russian passport does not mean being deprived of Russian citizenship, according to the country's law. No evidence has been published that Trukhanov has initiated the procedure of terminating his Russian citizenship.
The SBU had previously claimed it had found no evidence of Trukhanov’s Russian citizenship, prompting accusations of turning a blind eye to security threats for political reasons.
