Odesa: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has revoked the citizenship of Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov with allegations that he holds a Russian passport, the country’s SBU security service announced.
In a related move, a military administration has been appointed to govern the Black Sea port city, which has a population of around 1 million. The agency accused Trukhanov of possessing a valid international passport from the aggressor country. Ukraine bars its citizens from holding dual citizenship with Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The revocation of Trukhanov’s citizenship could potentially lead to his deportation.
President Zelenskyy, in a social media post, said he had met with the SBU chief to review countering Russian agent networks and collaborators in the front-line and border regions, as well as in the south of our country. Zelenskyy added that, “Far too many security issues in Odesa have remained unanswered for far too long.”
Trukhanov, a former member of parliament, has served as Odesa’s mayor since 2014 and has consistently denied holding Russian citizenship. Trukhanov added that he would continue performing mayoral duties and planned to challenge the decision in court. Images of a Russian passport allegedly belonging to him have circulated widely on Ukrainian social media.
Once perceived as pro-Russian, Trukhanov shifted his stance after Russia’s invasion in 2022, publicly condemning Moscow while focusing on defending Odesa and supporting the Ukrainian military.
Zelenskyy also revoked the citizenship of two other individuals. Local media identified them as Ukrainian ballet dancer Sergei Polunin and former politician Oleg Tsaryov. Polunin, born in southern Ukraine, acquired Russian citizenship in 2018 and has expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, including backing Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the 2022 invasion.
Earlier in July, Zelenskyy stripped Metropolitan Onufriy, head of the formerly Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, of his Ukrainian citizenship.
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