Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today revoked the citizenship of Odessa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov, according to Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), which stated that the decision was made because Trukhanov is also a Russian citizen.
Trukhanov denied holding Russian citizenship and said he would challenge the decision in court.
“I will defend myself, I will go to court. If the court cannot decide, I will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. This is the height of arbitrariness, which cannot be tolerated,” said Trukhanov.
Ukraine prohibits its citizens from holding Russian nationality. Trukhanov, who has served as mayor of the country’s largest port city since 2014, has faced long-standing criticism throughout his political career over alleged dual citizenship.
“I now have evidence proving that I could not, either personally or legally, have obtained Russian citizenship or passports,” Trukhanov told the public broadcaster Suspilne.
The SBU stated that the decision to strip Trukhanov of citizenship was based on evidence showing he held a valid Russian passport. It published a photo on Telegram that appeared to show a photocopied page of a Russian passport bearing Trukhanov’s name and photo.
Trukhanov has also been under investigation since 2017 for alleged embezzlement, charges he has denied. A source familiar with the matter said Zelensky also revoked the citizenship of two other individuals. According to Ukraine’s constitution, the president has the authority to rescind a citizen’s nationality.
“The Russian citizenship of certain individuals has been confirmed — relevant decisions have been prepared regarding them. The decree has been signed,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram, without naming names.
Ukrainian media reported that the same decree also stripped former Ukrainian MP Oleh Tsaryov and ballet dancer Sergei Polunin of their citizenship.
Oleksiy Honcharenko, an opposition MP from Odesa and outspoken critic of Zelensky, said that while Trukhanov “has many questions to answer,” he condemned the move to revoke his citizenship.
“Today they will remove Trukhanov, and everyone will rejoice because he’s a bad man — but tomorrow this repressive machine will turn against those deemed unsuitable,” he wrote on Telegram.
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