Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky abolished the office of the elected mayor of Odesa in October 2025 and established a military administration to take control of the city. The move follows Zelensky's decision to revoke the citizenship of the city's mayor, Gennadiy Trukhanov.
Details of the development:
- Abolition of the mayor's office: On October 15, 2025, President Zelensky issued a decree creating a new military administration for Odesa.
- New city leader appointed: Intelligence General Serhii Lysak was appointed to head the new military administration. Lysak was transferred from his role as military governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, a post he held for over two and a half years.
- Former mayor's citizenship revoked: The day before the decree, Zelensky stripped Trukhanov of his Ukrainian citizenship, citing evidence from Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) that the mayor also held a Russian passport.
- Trukhanov's position and response: Trukhanov, who had been mayor for more than 10 years, denies holding Russian citizenship and vowed to challenge the presidential decree in court. However, the loss of his citizenship makes him ineligible to hold office.
- An interim official takes over: As of October 16, 2025, Ihor Koval, the secretary of the city council, has been directed to perform the duties of the mayor.
The move to replace the elected city government with a military administration occurred amid the ongoing war with Russia. Trukhanov's removal also follows a separate scandal regarding his administration's handling of severe flooding in Odesa, which caused multiple fatalities.
Zelensky puts Odessa under military control after feuding with mayor
Serhiy Lysak, appointed head of the Odessa City Military Administration, served for a long time in military counterintelligence and then held senior positions in the SBU.
Wed, October 15, 2025
yahoo.com |
