Zelensky strips tainted Odesa Mayor Trukhanov of Ukrainian citizenship, effectively pushes him out of office
Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov in Odesa, Ukraine, on May 12, 2023. (Yulii Zozulia / Ukrinform / Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Editor's note: The story has been updated to include comments from the Odesa mayor.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stripped Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov of his Ukrainian citizenship after years of allegations that he possessed a Russian passport.
"The presence of Russian citizenship has been confirmed for certain individuals. The decree has been signed," the president said on Oct. 14, not naming the Odesa mayor by name.
The decision would effectively oust Trukhanov from his post. The mayor said he plans to contest the decision in court.
Ukraine’s Security Service have confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that Zelensky revoked Ukrainian citizenship of Trukhanov, ballet dancer Serhii Polunin, and former Ukrainian politician Oleg Tsaryov.
Polunin and Tsaryov, both living in Russia, have been publicly supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. Trukhanov, who lives in Ukraine, hasn’t.
"I will appeal the decision to deprive me of Ukrainian citizenship in the Supreme Court. And, if that is not enough, then in the European Court of Human Rights," Trukhanov wrote following the decision.
According to the Security Service, Trukhanov has an active Russian passport, issued in 2015, a year after Russia launched its war against Ukraine and occupied the Crimean Peninsula.
The news came amid days of speculation that the president might take such a step against the mayor, while Trukhanov warned of "provocations" and denied holding a Russian passport.
Reports that Trukhanov held Russian citizenship have circulated since 2014. Ukrainian journalists said, citing obtained documents, that the Odesa mayor possessed such a passport in the past.
After repeatedly denying the fact, Trukhanov had his passport annulled through a Russian court in 2017, due to alleged procedural violations. He claimed to have learned about the passport online.
In 2018, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published a copy of Trukhanov’s Russian passport and offshore documents, showing he was registered as living in the city of Sergiev Posad in Moscow Oblast.
Last year, activist Serhii Sternenko published documents allegedly indicating that Trukhanov still holds Russian citizenship. The data also suggested that a person with the same name as Odesa’s mayor applied for a Russian bank account just weeks before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) previously said it had found no evidence of Trukhanov’s Russian citizenship.
On Oct. 13, a petition was launched urging the president to strip Trukhanov of his Ukrainian citizenship. It reached the required 25,000 signatures within hours.
According to the petition, the Odesa mayor’s alleged dual citizenship "raises national security concerns and damages public confidence in local leadership."
"I'm supported by the majority of Odesa's population, and someone really doesn't want to see me as the mayor of the city," Trukhanov told the Kyiv Independent, hinting at the president.
Trukhanov, 60, has served as mayor of the southern port city of Odesa since 2014. He has been reelected twice. Despite a political career marked by multiple scandals, including graft allegations, he has so far managed to avoid losing office.
For years, Trukhanov has been widely seen as a Russian sympathizer. However, after the start of the full-scale invasion, he rebranded himself as a Ukrainian patriot, yet continued to resist the removal of Soviet-era monuments and renaming streets in Odesa as part of the decommunization efforts aimed at breaking ties with Russia’s imperial legacy.
In 2018 Trukhanov was charged with embezzling Hr 92 million ($2.2 million) by purchasing Odesa's Krayan factory building for the city government at an inflated price.
An Odesa court acquitted him amid allegations of political pressure on the judges in 2019. An appellate court canceled the verdict and re-opened the case in 2021. Trukhanov was twice arrested in the case before being released on bail.
According to political analyst Ihor Reiterovych, confirmation by the president of Trukhanov’s Russian citizenship would prompt political issues, since it "obviously dates back much earlier."
“(Trukhanov) is, of course, tainted. But when you have a mayor like that, you can always keep him on a short leash, and he won’t make any moves against the central government,” Reiterovych told the Kyiv Independent.
Unlike some other outspoken mayors, Trukhanov hardly ever voiced criticism towards the central government in light of the trend of mounting pressure on local authorities.
In the past week, Zelensky has openly criticized local officials, suggesting upcoming staff reshuffles.
The move to terminate Trukhanov’s citizenship also comes just weeks after a devastating flood hit Odesa in late September, killing at least 10 people. Local authorities faced criticism over their handling of the disaster’s aftermath.
When asked about the emergency, Zelensky replied emotionally on Oct.11, saying: "Everything must be done consistently and fairly. And we will deal with the situation in Odesa as well."
"I wouldn’t rule out that, in this context, the authorities simply decided to seize the moment — using a formal pretext to apply additional pressure on local government representatives," Reiterovych said.
"There have long been rumors that the central government wants to gain, or at least tighten, control over key cities — including Odesa."
Stripping Ukrainian officials of their citizenship is not a new practice, and it has been mired in controversy.
Ukraine’s Constitution bans dual citizenship but guarantees that no Ukrainian citizen can be deprived of their citizenship. At the same time, it gives the president the power to grant or terminate it.
Loss or termination of Ukrainian citizenship can serve as grounds for removing a person from office, including an elected one such as mayor, according to the law. In such a case, the mayor’s duties are transferred to the city council secretary — a position currently held by Ihor Koval, a representative of Zelensky’s Servant of the People party.
Under martial law, the president also has the authority to establish a city-level military administration.
Later in the evening, Zelensky confirmed he would appoint a head of the military administration, saying that Odesa "deserves greater protection and stronger support."
A source in the President's Office told the Kyiv Independent that the position will allegedly be taken by current Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak.
"Too many security issues in Odesa have gone unanswered for far too long," the president said in his address.
