Gennadiy Trukhanov Declares Continuation of Duties as Odesa Mayor and Confirms Citizenship Status
Gennadiy Trukhanov, the mayor of Odesa, has officially announced that he will continue to perform his duties as the city’s leader until the city council makes an official decision recognizing this fact.
In a statement via Telegram, he emphasized that he has not acquired Russian Federation citizenship and is a full-fledged Ukrainian citizen.
“All rumors regarding my alleged Russian citizenship stem from the fact that citizens of the former Soviet Union automatically acquired Russian citizenship under certain circumstances, which I have not experienced.
I have never registered in Russia, nor was I registered there, and for personal reasons, I had no grounds to obtain Russian citizenship.
My military service in the CIS Armed Forces ended in 1992, and the law recognizing automatic Russian citizenship came into effect after that.” Trukhanov also stated that if Ukrainian citizenship is revoked, his powers as mayor will automatically cease.
This is stipulated by part 11 of Article 79 of the Law of Ukraine on Local Self-Government.
He declared that he would appeal any decision to deprive him of Ukrainian citizenship in the Supreme Court and, if necessary, will seek justice from the European Court of Human Rights.