Trukhanov's deprivation of Ukrainian citizenship: will there be a crisis of power in Odesa?

On the evening of October 12, another scandal erupted in Odesa.An appeal from Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanovwas posted on social media , in which he stated that a commission under the President of Ukraine was planning to consider depriving him of Ukrainian citizenship because he allegedly held Russian citizenship. The mayor of Odesa insisted that he did not have a passport of the aggressor country and that this was another provocation against him.

"I don't know who benefits from this, I can only assume. I am conducting my own check and appeal to all authorized bodies: make a legal and thorough check. I ask the President and the competent services to take a close look at the documents and find out the truth," he added.

Journalists on social media began to find out whether it was true that Trukhanov was being deprived of Ukrainian citizenship, and the mayor's supporters began to try to prove that it was indeed a provocation and that he did not have a Russian passport. As a result, several more fake Russian passports of Trukhanov appeared online.

There is currently no official information that the Presidential Commission has deprived the mayor of Odesa of Ukrainian citizenship, but tensions remain for the city's residents.

Meanwhile , a petition to revoke Gennadiy Trukhanov's Ukrainian citizenship was signed by more than 25,000 Ukrainians in less than a day. 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 who was asked by the mayor 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.

In response , Trukhanov said that he was ready to undergo any test, including a polygraph, to prove that he did not have Russian citizenship.

For his part, Volodymyr Zelenskyyresponded to the to the electronic petition No. 22/253304-ep "On the establishment of the Odesa City Military Administrationin the city of Odesa in order to ensure the security and proper functioning of theauthorities under martial law ", posted on the website of the Official Internet Representation of the President of Ukraine by citizen I. Kazachuk, which was supported by more than 25,000 citizens, noted that such decisions are made only upon submission of the regional authorities or military command. According to him, no such applications have been received so far. Therefore, the president instructed the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi and the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration Oleh Kiper to check the facts contained in the petition.

On October 14 ,President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: "The presence of Russian citizenship in some individuals has been confirmed - appropriate decisions have been prepared. I have signed the decree".

Later, the telethon stated that Trukhanov, Tsarev, and Polunin had been deprived of Ukrainian citizenship. Zelensky signed the relevant decrees.

What caused the scandal

The issue of Trukhanov's Russian citizenship has been discussed for a long time. According to the mayor of Odesa himself, it has been raised since 2014.

According to him, "at the plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada , Anatoliy Kinakh read out the response of the Russian Consulate (2014), which confirmed that I do not have Russian citizenship. Then, in 2016, at the request of the migration service, I also received a response from the consulate that I did not have Russian citizenship. Then, in 2018, the NABU, within the framework of international legal assistance, applied to and received a response from Russia, which it made public in court."

"According to the letter of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MIA of Russia) dated 31.07.2018 No. 20/29418, it is stated that "The person under inspection is not listed in the records of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia as having acquired the citizenship of the Russian Federation as of 26.07.2018. There is no information about Trukhanov's crossing of the state border of the Russian Federation from July 2016 to the present," the mayor of Odesa quoted.

However, in February 2019, according to ZN.UA, the SAP (Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office) demonstrated in court, where the "Kraianu case" was considered, the response of the Russian side about Trukhanov's Russian citizenship: the first passport of the Federation was issued to him in 2002, the second - in 2003, in 2011 Trukhanov replaced the first document in connection with the achievement of his 45th birthday, but in 2017 both passports were canceled due to violations of the issuance procedure.

At the time, prosecutors argued that, in addition to the surname, the date and place of birth of the Odesa mayor also matched in the issued documents.

"We cannot say with 100% certainty whether these citizens - the mayor of Odesa, the man who received his passport in 2002, and the man who became a citizen of the Russian Federation in 2003 - are the same person, but all their data completely match. And we believe that this is not just a coincidence," the SAPO prosecutor emphasized.

What can Odesa expect in connection with the scandal

This passport scandal can be very inconvenient for Odesa.

Article 79 of the Law "On Local Self-Government in Ukraine" seems to stipulate that if Trukhanov is deprived of Ukrainian citizenship by a decision of the Commission under the President of Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelenskyy signs a decree, the powers of the mayor of Odesa will be terminated automatically after the president signs it - without additional court or city council decisions. In that case, according to the law, the Secretary of the City Council, Ihor Koval, will act as mayor .

Odesa has already been in this situation in 2013. After Yanukovych dismissed Odesa Mayor Oleksiy Kostusev, a former Trukhanov ally, Oleh Bryndak, was acting mayor . But there are already numerous cases of military administrations in Ukraine that report directly to Kyiv, so Trukhanov's removal may be another step towards this.

"If Gennadiy Trukhanov is deprived of Ukrainian citizenship and removed from the post of mayor of Odesa and a city military administration is established, the situation for the city could become quite difficult. In addition to the fact that the city community will not be able to influence the adoption of important decisions for Odesa, the city may find itself in a situation of difficult challenges on the eve of the heating season and in the face of constant Russian shelling. The powers of the city authorities have not been suspended, so there may be a "misunderstanding" between the president's man, the new head of the city military administration, and the deputies. Such a bad example exists in Chernihiv and Kherson. The self-government in these cities has not found an understanding with the president's people, which is why all the negative goes to Kyiv," Anatoliy Boyko, head of the Odesa regional organization of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, told INTENT. Anatoliy Boyko, head of the Odesa regional organization of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine.

Odesa also experienced a period when, in 1998, then-President Leonid Kuchma deprived Eduard Hurvits, who had won the mayoral election, of his powers through the court and appointed his representative Mykola Biloblotskyi to run Odesa .

What is a military administration?

A military administration is a system of public authorities established for the period of martial law to govern certain territories and ensure life, security, and defense. These bodies temporarily take over the powers of local state administrations and self-government bodies and are headed by chiefs appointed by the President of Ukraine.

Therefore, the introduction of a city military administration in Odesa could be seen as an attempt to run the city directly from Kyiv, and could lead to the collapse of the authorities in the winter at the beginning of the heating season during the war.

In general, military administrations are authorized to enforce the Constitution and laws, implement martial law measures, as well as defense, civil protection and public safety. In addition, they exercise the powers of local governments (such as approving budgets and development programs), ensure the life of settlements, and regulate military legislation and service. During Russia's open aggression against Ukraine, military administrations were established in a number of large cities. In Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Sumy, city deputies are at war with city administrations, and, for example, in Chernihiv and Kherson, local deputies are almost excluded from participation in governance. The same may be true for Odesa if a military municipal administration is introduced. Therefore, it can be assumed that all this resembles an all-Ukrainian process of destroying local self-government.

Appeal in court

If his citizenship is revoked, Gennadiy Trukhanov said he would appeal to the court.

Earlier, for example, the former mayor of Dnipro , Hennadiy Korban,did this , but his appeal has not yet led to anything.

As a reminder, on July 22-23, 2022, Korban was not allowed to enter Ukraine. At the border, his passport as a citizen of Ukraine was confiscated, after which he stated that he would challenge the situation legally. Ukrainian and international media reported that this was a presidential decree on the deprivation of citizenship of a group of people, including Korban; the document itself was not officially published.

In 2023, Ukrayinska Pravda clarified that Filatov's and Korban's lawyers denied the decision and continued to seek restoration of their status. As of 2025, there were no public reports of the restoration of Ukrainian citizenship.

Володимир Шкаєв