05 July 2025
(PHOTO: Movement CHESNO)
In Odesa, Kherson, and Mykolaiv, the city councils have lost significant numbers of deputies: in Kherson, more than a third of the deputies resigned, in Odesa - one in four, and in Mykolaiv - two, in part because of their pro-Russian stance. Due to the ban on parties and unfilled mandates, key commissions are blocked in the councils, and it is impossible to resume their full-fledged work.
This was discussed in a study by the CHESNO Movement.
During the current cadence, city councils of regional centers lost 145 deputies, which is 12.5% of their full membership. According to the study, the situation is not the best in Odesa, Kherson, and Mykolaiv, where due to the resignation of deputies and the ban of the parties that nominated them, it is not even possible to technically fill the empty seats. As a result, some councils are effectively paralyzed.
The Odesa City Council lacks 8 deputies, which is a quarter of the total number of deputies. All of them were elected from the now banned parties - Shariy's Party and OPFL. Because of this, for example, the Standing Committee on Regulations, Deputy Ethics and Corruption Prevention cannot work - there is no quorum. The parties that nominated these MPs do not have the right to replace those who have left, so the situation is in limbo. None of the eight vacant seats have been filled.
Kherson City Council lost more than a third of its deputies - 20 out of 54. This is one of the highest figures in the country. Among the reasons, 18 deputies resigned at their own request, mostly in 2023-2024. Two more - Volodymyr Saldo and Ihor Semenchev - were deprived of their mandates due to court sentences for treason and collaboration.
After the de-occupation of the city, the local government was formally preserved, but all powers are actually exercised by the military city administration. The council does not meet, and all deputies' requests for resignation require its own decision for approval. As a result, none of the 20 vacant seats have been filled.
In Mykolaiv City Council, the term was relatively calm, but two deputies lost their seats. One of them, Maksym Nevinchanyi, was elected from the OPFL party, systematically spread pro-Russian rhetoric, publicly complained about "Ukrainization" and owed alimony. He was deprived of his mandate by a decision of the city council.
Another deputy was recalled by the party. This is one of the rare examples of the use of a mandatory mandate in Mykolaiv City Council. As of May 2025, 56 out of 64 deputies remained in the council.
As for the overall picture in Ukraine, as of today, 145 of the 1164 deputies of city councils in regional centers have terminated their powers early, or one in eight. In 71% of cases, they resigned at their own request. Often - due to the inability to travel abroad after government decree No. 69 (2023), in 10% - due to incompatibility of positions, 12 deputies died. Only 10 MPs lost their mandates by the decision of their parties, due to a mandatory mandate. There was not a single case of recalling an MP at the initiative of voters.
As of May 2025, only 45% of the city councils of regional centers have a full complement of members. The same number of them are incomplete, but retain more than 90% of their deputies. The situation in the rest is critical. Overall, 56 seats remain vacant across the country.
Also, Mykolaiv ranked 7th in the Transparency Ranking of Cities during the War, while Odesa did not make it to the top 10. The study showed that the level of transparency does not depend on the size or budget of the city, but on political will and systematic work. The top ten most transparent cities include seven regional centers and three other cities. Mykolaiv ranked seventh with 68 points, one of the best results among frontline cities, and Odesa ranked 34th with 45.5 points.
Анна Бальчінос