14 October 2025
(PHOTO: Intent/Natalia Dovbysh)
In less than 24 hours, more than 25,000 Ukrainians have signed a petition to deprive Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov of Ukrainian citizenship.
Now the President of Ukraine is to consider the petition.
The author of the petition, Miroslav Otkovych, cites repeated media reports that the mayor has Russian citizenship.
Myroslav Otkovych is the soldier of the 122nd Brigade, whom the mayor asked why he was not in the trench in response to a comment about the Pushkin monument in front of the city council building on Birzhova Street.
The author of the petition accuses the mayor of defending narratives favorable to the aggressor state in public space, as well as protecting monuments containing symbols of Russian imperial policy. Myroslav Otkovych also recalled the tragedy that occurred in Odesa on September 30, 2025, when people died as a result of a downpour, and stated that this event exacerbated distrust of the mayor.
On the evening of October 12, Hennadiy Trukhanov published a statement that he was going to be deprived of Ukrainian citizenship on the grounds of his alleged Russian Federation citizenship.
He reminded that this topic has been systematically raised since 2014. At that time, he repeatedly denied holding Russian citizenship, and all checks by Ukrainian authorities did not establish this fact.
At a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada in 2014 , Anatoliy Kinakh read out an official response from the Russian Consulate, which confirmed that Trukhanov was not on the list of Russian citizens.
In 2016, the Migration Service also received a similar response from the Russian Consulate.
Finally, Trukhanov appealed to the president: "Make a legal and thorough check. I ask the President and the competent services to look closely at the documents and establish the truth."
The politician also appealed to the public not to give in to rumors and provocations and said that Ukraine now needs "calm, unity and consolidated work."
Кирило Бойко