Ukraine - October 2025

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree on 14 October stripping Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov of his Ukrainian citizenship and thereby removing him from office. The mayor’s office has been replaced with a military administration appointed by the President. The grounds for the decision were claims by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) that Trukhanov obtained Russian citizenship in 2015. Dual citizenship is not currently recognized under Ukrainian law, and Trukhanov’s case has been the source of speculation for years. The move is broadly understood to be only the starkest case in the long-running effort by the presidential administration to limit the independence and political power of influential regional elites. Many such elites have clashed with the administration over the bounds of decentralization reforms. Trukhanov denies that he has or had Russian citizenship and has said he will challenge the decision in court. Trukhanov is a figure with ties to organized crime and allegations of Russian citizenship have circulated for a decade, but who has also been praised for effective leadership and resisting Russian influence since the full-scale invasion. 

Sources: Kyiv Independent, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, The Insider, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace