Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree to strip Odessa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov of his Ukrainian citizenship. The BBC Ukrainian Service reports that the decision was based on information about his Russian passport. Trukhanov has categorically denied the allegations.
Zelensky said that a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council had been held, during which the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Malyuk, reported on the “fight against Russian agent networks and collaborators.” According to the president, it was confirmed that several individuals had Russian citizenship, and it was decided to strip them of their Ukrainian citizenship.
Although Zelensky did not name the individuals, sources for the BBC Ukrainian Service report that the mayor of Odessa, Gennadiy Trukhanov, was also involved. According to Ukrainian media, the same decree also deprived former Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleg Tsarev and ballet dancer Sergei Polunin of their citizenship.
Trukhanov had earlier stated that a meeting of a professional commission was scheduled for Monday to discuss his Russian citizenship. “The accusations against me are not new. Since 2014, I have been constantly explaining that I do not have Russian citizenship and have never had it. I have already been checked many times by all relevant Ukrainian authorities,” he wrote on social media last week.
Trukhanov described a photo of his alleged Russian passport circulating on the Internet as “a forgery and a provocation.”
