Zelensky revokes citizenship of Odesa mayor accused of holding Russian passport

President Volodymyr Zelensky stripped Odesa’s long-serving mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov of his Ukrainian citizenship after security services alleged he held a passport from Russia.

Mr Trukhanov, 60, who has governed the Black Sea port city for over a decade, rejected the accusation.

“I will appeal the decision to strip me of my Ukrainian citizenship in the Supreme Court. And, if that is not enough, I will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights,” he said in a video statement.

The Security Service of Ukraine released an image on Telegram of what appeared to be a Russian passport bearing the mayor’s name and photograph, claiming it was issued in December 2015 and remained valid.

Ukrainian law bars public officials from holding dual citizenship.

In his nightly address on Tuesday, Mr Zelensky said he would soon appoint a head for a new military administration to take power in Odesa, signalling Mr Trukhanov would be replaced.

“Too many security issues in Odesa have remained unresolved for too long,” he added, echoing earlier criticism that local leaders had failed to protect the city’s people from floods last month that killed 10 people.

A source told local media the president had also revoked the citizenship of two other individuals, Reuters reported.

Ukraine’s constitution grants the president authority to revoke citizenship in certain cases.

Mr Zelensky’s latest decision deepens ongoing rifts between Kyiv and several city mayors who accuse the president of using wartime powers to consolidate control.

Similar tensions have strained ties with mayors in Kyiv and Kharkiv who allege that central authorities are sidelining elected local governments under martial law.

Mr Trukhanov, former member of a now-banned pro-Russia party, has long faced speculation over his nationality. In 2016, security services said they had found no evidence of his Russian citizenship but suspicions persisted.

The mayor has opposed Ukraine’s “de-Russification” campaign, resisting moves to remove monuments linked to the Russian Empire such as statues of Catherine the Great, who founded Odesa in 1794, and playwright Alexander Pushkin.

Opposition politicians condemned the revocation of Mr Trukhanov’s citizenship as politically motivated.

“Today, they will take Trukhanov away and we will all rejoice because he is bad, but tomorrow this machine of repression will be unleashed against inconvenient people,” said Oleksiy Honcharenko, an Odesa MP from former president Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party.

Oleksii Potapskyi, who heads the same party in Odesa’s City Council, called the move a “political crackdown”, saying: “Our president has been in power for six years, and only now he has suddenly discovered that Mr Trukhanov allegedly has Russian citizenship.”

Odesa, Ukraine’s third-largest city, is deeply shaped by Russian cultural influence. It has endured Russian missile and drone attacks throughout the war.

By appointing a military administration, Mr Zelensky will gain direct control over the city’s governance as the heads of such bodies are personally chosen by the president.

Meanwhile, World Health Organisation staff came under attack while travelling with a UN convoy in southern Ukraine. Despite the assault, the team managed to deliver medical supplies to the city of Bilozerka, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

Two World Food Programme trucks were damaged in the attack. “We reiterate our call for attacks on humanitarian workers to end,” Mr Tedros said on Wednesday.