Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday revoked the citizenship of Odesa’s mayor on the grounds that he also had a Russian passport, acting to end the tenure of a divisive figure who has run the Black Sea port city for 11 years.
Hennadiy Trukhanov, 60, an elected official, said he would take his case to court, denying having a Russian passport and insisting that he remained mayor. Ukrainian officials are prohibited from holding dual citizenship.
In his evening address, Zelensky said that he would appoint someone soon to head up a new military administration to run the city, making clear he was moving to have Trukhanov replaced.
“Too many security issues in Odesa have remained unresolved for too long,” he said.
The remarks echoed his comments from last week, in which he accused Odesa’s “local leaders” of failing to do enough to protect residents from flooding last month that killed 10 people.
The SBU domestic security agency said in a statement that it had evidence Trukhanov had a valid Russian passport. It posted a picture on Telegram appearing to show a photocopied Russian passport page bearing Trukhanov’s name and face.