Odessa, the main Ukrainian port and one of the country’s largest cities, is experiencing an unprecedented situation after the president Volodímir Zelenski signed a decree on Tuesday that strips its mayor of his Ukrainian nationality, Genadi Trukhanov, for having a Russian passport and announce the creation of a military manager to govern the municipality in his place.
Trukhanov has stated that he did not leave Ukraine once in 2015 or 2016. The Russian passport in his name, of which the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has published photographs, was issued in the Russian Federation in December 2015. Trukhanov has denounced that the published document contains errors and is “a clear falsification” and has announced that he will go to Ukrainian justice and the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.
Odessa deputy Oleksí Goncharenko, from the main opposition party, has denounced the measure as an attempt by Zelensky to intimidate his political rivals in view of the elections that will be held when the war ends. Goncharenko has suggested that Zelensky wants to control the enormous source of income for Ukraine that is the port of Odessa by removing from power a politician who is not of his sanity.
Zelensky’s explanation
“Odessa deserves better protection and more support. This can be done in the format of a military administration. Too many security problems in Odessa They have gone unanswered for too long. All effective decisions will be made. “I will soon name the head of the military administration,” Zelensky said in his address to the nation last night.
In a decree published this Wednesday on the presidential website, the current head of the military administration of the Dnipropetrovsk region is named, Serguí Lisakas head of the military administration created to govern the city of Odessa.
The president did not mention the mayor of Odessa, Trukhanov, or the decision, announced in an ambiguous and fragmented manner hours before, that he was no longer a Ukrainian citizen and was therefore disqualified from holding office as councilor.
The first indication of the measure against Trukhanov – an independent and controversial figure associated by many with the corruption of the old pro-Russian elite who attributes the measure to political persecution – was given by Zelensky himself in a message published on his social networks after meeting with the head of the Ukrainian Secret Service (SBU).
I held a meeting on the security situation in some of our regions – these are matters of principle.
Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Maliuk reported on countering Russian agent networks and collaborators in the frontline and border regions, as well as in the south… pic.twitter.com/MxKyKjPYc9
– Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelenskyy (@zelenskyyua) October 14, 2025
Zelensky said, without giving names, that he had established with the SBU “the fact that some individuals have Russian passports”. “The corresponding decisions have been prepared. I have signed the decree,” he added.
Shortly after, the SBU confirmed that one of those affected by the measure was the mayor of Odessa. His alleged Russian passport was published alongside the statement. The document would have been issued in December 2015 for a period of ten years. Ukrainian law prohibits having the nationality of the aggressor country.
Audits and public requests
Zelensky stripped Trukhanov of his nationality after an official commission studied the evidence presented by the SBU and recommended action. The Commission issued its conclusion after a citizen petition initiated for Trukhanov to stop being a Ukrainian citizen because he also had a Russian passport reached 25,000 signatures, which oblige the president to respond to this type of citizen requests.
Although Trukhanov’s exclusion from public life was taken because he supposedly had a Russian passport, Zelensky’s comments after learning of the measure underline the need to improve the Odessa government.
On October 1, Zelensky already requested an audit of the state of the city after nine people died there due to heavy rains. Another citizen petition started on September 24 asked the president to establish a military administration in this seaport to guarantee services and protection to citizens.
Opposition mayors such as that of kyiv reproach Zelensky for having taken advantage of the martial law in force in the country since the beginning of the war to assume powers that correspond to local authorities.