Odessa Mayor Trukhanov stripped of Ukrainian citizenship by Zelensky
The mayor of Ukraine’s key port city of Odesa, Gennadiy Trukhanov, has been stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who signed the decree on 14 October.
Mr Zelensky referred to information provided by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which suggested Mr Trukhanov also held Russian citizenship, despite Ukraine’s ban on dual nationality.
“The Russian citizenship of certain individuals has been confirmed... The decree has been signed,” Mr Zelensky wrote on Telegram, following a meeting with the head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk. He made the statement without identifying anyone.
With the revocation of his citizenship, Mr Trukhanov also loses the mayoral post he has held since 2014 and could reportedly face deportation.
In response to a petition, Mr Zelensky simultaneously initiated the establishment of a military administration for the strategically important port city.
Mr Trukhanov denied holding Russian citizenship and said he would appeal to the courts, referencing an SBU investigation into the claims from 2022.
“I now have proof that I could not, either physically or legally, obtain Russian citizenship or a passport,” he told the Ukrainian public broadcaster, Suspilne.
According to the SBU, the decision to revoke Mr Trukhanov's citizenship was made following evidence provided by the service confirming that the Odesa mayor holds a valid Russian passport. The SBU posted an image on Telegram that appears to show a photocopy of a Russian passport page bearing Mr Trukhanov's name and photo, which is valid until December 2025.
Suspicions about his Russian citizenship were first raised during the 2014 mayoral election campaign.
Mr Trukhanov has repeatedly condemned Russia for the attacks on Odesa.
The Odessa mayor has also been under investigation since 2017 in connection with fraud allegations, which he denies.
Sources familiar with the case said Mr Zelensky has also stripped two other Ukrainians of their citizenship. According to the Constitution, the President of Ukraine has the prerogative to revoke citizenship.
Oleksiy Honcharenko, an opposition MP from Odessa and a fierce critic of Mr Zelensky, said that while Mr Trukhanov must answer "many questions," he condemned the citizenship revocation.
“Today, they will remove Trukhanov... but tomorrow the repression machine will be unleashed against inconvenient people,” he wrote on Telegram, citing the Agerpres news agency.
Due to the martial law in effect, the local elections that were supposed to take place at the end of October were cancelled by parliament.
The revocation of citizenship, which was practised against dissidents in the Soviet era, has become common practice once again under Volodymyr Zelensky and his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, dpa also notes.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
