Overview

• President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree stripping Odessa mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov of Ukrainian citizenship after the SBU linked him to a Russian passport.
• The president ordered Odessa placed under a military administration, with Ukrainian media reporting Serhii Lysak, a senior security official, as its newly appointed head.
• Trukhanov denies ever holding Russian citizenship, says he will challenge the move in court up to the European Court of Human Rights, and asserts he will serve until city authorities or courts formally remove him.
• The SBU-published passport has not been independently verified, and investigative journalist Christo Grozev has labeled it a likely fake.
• Wartime rules that suspend local elections enable Kyiv to install administrators controlling city budgets, drawing criticism from opposition figures who call the step political, while Trukhanov’s record of corruption probes and recent public anger after deadly flooding shape local reactions.