Mayor of Odesa Trukhanov appeals to Zelenskyy regarding possible deprivation of Ukrainian citizenship

Mayor of Odesa Trukhanov appeals to Zelenskyy regarding possible deprivation of Ukrainian citizenship

This evening, Hennadiy Trukhanov published a statement claiming that there are plans to deprive him of his Ukrainian citizenship on the grounds of allegedly holding Russian Federation citizenship.

He reminded that this topic has been systematically raised since 2014. Back then, he repeatedly denied possessing Russian citizenship — and all inspections by Ukrainian authorities did not establish such a fact.

During a session of the Verkhovna Rada in 2014, Anatoliy Kinakh read an official response from the Russian consulate, which confirmed that Trukhanov is not listed among Russian citizens.

In 2016, the migration service also received a similar response from the Russian consulate.

In 2018, through NABU, as part of international legal assistance, an official certificate was received from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation stating that as of July 26, 2018, Trukhanov «is not listed in the records of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation as having acquired Russian citizenship», and there is also no information about him crossing the Russian border during the period from July 2016.

The documents that occasionally appear in the media, according to him, are — "invalid, fake".

According to him, one of such "proofs" emerged through a lawyer’s request to Crimea in April 2025 regarding his citizenship and an alleged photo of a passport with an issuance date of December 15, 2015 - but at that time, he was physically in Odesa, which is confirmed by social media posts.

He stated that biometric procedures require personal presence, so obtaining such a document "remotely" is impossible.

Trukhanov emphasized that a meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at the commission under the President of Ukraine to consider the issue of depriving him of Ukrainian citizenship due to "holding Russian citizenship".

In conclusion, Trukhanov addressed the President: "Conduct a legal and thorough investigation. I ask the President and competent services to carefully review the documents and establish the truth".

The politician also appealed to the public with a call not to succumb to rumors and provocations and stated that Ukraine now needs "calm, unity, and consolidated work".

The statement by Trukhanov was first reported at 18:54 by the head of the Odesa District Council, Trukhanov’s party colleague Vitaliy Barvinenko. The statement appeared at 21:00 on Trukhanov’s own channel and almost simultaneously on the Odesa channel. Officially, it was also reported by Barvinenko.

Discussions about the possible introduction of a military administration in Odesa or other ways to remove Trukhanov have been ongoing for a long time. Recently, a petition on the President’s website regarding the introduction of an administration gathered 25,000 signatures in just a few days.

According to the Law "On Local Self-Government," the powers of a city mayor are considered prematurely terminated in the following cases:

1. his personal application to the relevant council to resign from the position of mayor;
2. termination of his citizenship;
3. entry into force of a guilty verdict against him;
4. entry into force of a court decision holding him accountable for an offense related to corruption, with a penalty in the form of deprivation of the right to hold positions or engage in activities related to the performance of state or local self-government functions;
5.  entry into force of a court decision recognizing his assets or assets acquired on his behalf by other persons or in other cases provided for by Article 290 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine as unjustified and their confiscation to the state treasury;
6. recall from office by popular initiative;
7.  court recognition of him as incapacitated, missing, or declared deceased;
8. his death.