Trukhanov says he to continue to retain mayor's powers pending city council decision
Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov said that he plans to continue exercising his powers.
"In the event of deprivation of Ukrainian citizenship, the powers of the mayor are terminated from the moment the city council adopts a decision noting this fact. This is determined by Part 11 of Article 79 of the Law of Ukraine on Local Self-Government in Ukraine. Until then, I will continue to exercise my powers as the mayor elected by the community," Trukhanov said in the Telegram channel on Tuesday.
He also commented on the president's decision, calling the information about his Russian citizenship as "speculation."
"All speculation about my alleged Russian citizenship is due to the fact that citizens of the former Soviet Union automatically acquired citizenship of the Russian Federation under certain circumstances. However, I did not have such circumstances," Trukhanov said.
He stated that he permanently resided in Ukraine, was never registered in Russia's territory, was not listed in the records of Russian citizens, and did not even have grounds for automatically acquiring citizenship as a military serviceman, since he was discharged from the ranks of the CIS Armed Forces on January 15, 1992, and the law on automatic recognition as a citizen of Russia came into force on February 6, 1992.
Trukhanov also confirmed that he plans to appeal the decision in the courts.
"I will appeal the decision to deprive me of Ukrainian citizenship in the Supreme Court. And, if that is not enough, then in the European Court of Human Rights," he said.
As reported, earlier on Tuesday, a petition to terminate the Ukrainian citizenship of Odesa Mayor Trukhanov, published on Zelenskyy's website on October 13, has already gained over 27,000 votes, which is more than the 25,000 necessary for its consideration by the head of state. It also claims that some journalistic materials allegedly contain data on the presence of Odesa mayor's passport of a Russian citizen, there is a reference to Odesa mayor's advocacy of "narratives beneficial to the aggressor state" as well as to the tragedy of September 30, when people died in the city as a result of a downpour.