May 9, 2026, 7:03 a.m.
(SCREENSHOT from Vasyl Huliayev's video message)
Recently, the current mayor of Chornomorsk, Vasyl Huliaiev, announced that he had decided to join the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In an address to the townspeople, he also noted that he would not resign from his position and would return to his duties as mayor after his service in the Armed Forces. Let's try to understand in this article how typical this situation is and how the city should be managed in the actual absence of the mayor.
A city mayor is elected to office by popular vote, so he or she cannot be removed due to capricious circumstances. Article 79 of the Law of Ukraine "On Local Self-Government in Ukraine" contains a list of cases of early termination of powers of a village, settlement or city mayor:
The Laws of Ukraine "On Civil-Military Administrations" and "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law" are also worth mentioning. They state, in particular, that under martial law, the functions of the mayor are actually taken over by the head of the military administration. Of course, this can only happen if the military administration has been introduced in the city.
We can conclude that the law does not consider joining the Armed Forces of Ukraine to be an automatic ground for termination of mayoral powers. On the other hand, item 7 of our list has a certain nuance: the mayor can be removed from office if he or she fails to fulfill his or her duties. And this can theoretically happen if, for example, he is currently in the Armed Forces.
From the point of view of common sense, it is hard to believe that it is possible to combine the duties of a military serviceman with the position of mayor of a city during the war. However, what does the law say about combining professions in the case of a mayor?
Article 12 of the Law of Ukraine "On Local Self-Government in Ukraine" states that a city mayor cannot be a deputy of any council, combine his or her official activities with another position, including on a voluntary basis, or engage in other paid or entrepreneurial activities. However, there are exceptions to this rule. In particular, a city mayor may combine his/her activities with teaching, research and creative activities, medical practice, sports instruction and refereeing.
It should be emphasized that the law does not mention combining work with military service during martial law. And this is understandable, because it is a specific public duty, not a classic part-time job in the labor sense. Therefore, in Ukraine, we have a number of cases where individual local government officials, bureaucrats, and even MPs served in the Armed Forces without automatically losing their mandates or positions.
Article 25 of the Law of Ukraine "On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization" states that persons liable for military service who are employed are subject to reservation:
That is, the mayor receives a deferral from the law, but is not obliged to accept it and can go to serve if he or she wishes.
If the mayor is unable to fulfill his or her duties, the secretary of the city council exercises his or her powers. In the case of Chornomorsk, Huliaiev, who joined the Armed Forces, will formally remain the mayor, but the secretary of the city council will take over the day-to-day management as acting mayor.
Article 119 of the Labor Code of Ukraine helps to understand this situation. Until July 2022, Article 119 stated that employees called up or accepted for military service retained their place of work, position and average salary. However, starting from July 2022, such employees will retain only their place of work and position. Upon joining the Armed Forces, a citizen is transferred to a military salary.
If we talk specifically about the case of the mayor, the absence of a civilian salary during the period of service looks quite logical. After all, the mayor receives a salary for a certain list of duties: performing the functions of the mayor, participating in the work of the executive committee, managing the apparatus, etc. Obviously, it is impossible to perform these functions during military service.
This is in theory, but in practice there may be nuances. After all, in some communities during the war, there were already situations where officials formally remained on the payroll or received certain additional payments or allowances. Therefore, to answer the question about Vasyl Huliaiev, it is important to understand how the Chornomorsk City Council will formalize his transfer to the Armed Forces. Will his service be formalized as mobilization or as a contract? Will he be officially suspended from performing his functions? Will there be a separate decision on his salary?
So, according to the law, Vasyl Huliaiev should not receive the mayor's salary during his military service. At the same time, it ultimately depends on how his service will be formalized and what decisions the city council will make.
Олег Пархітько