State, local self-government, and threats…

"The authorities view local self-government as a threat" ‒ a statement I recently heard from people I greatly respect, who live and work in Ukraine and are committed to its future.

This claim is unacceptable, as municipalities play a vital role in strengthening Ukraine's resilience in its struggle against the aggressor. Indeed, without local self-government, Ukraine as a state cannot exist.

The occupying forces initially focused their efforts on intimidating local government leaders, who represented the state and ensured the provision of essential services to the residents of municipalities even under temporary occupation. In early 2022, 55 local government officials were taken prisoner. Two of them lost their lives, while three remain in captivity.

International experts have described the timely decentralisation reform as one of the key factors enabling Ukraine to halt the aggressor in 2022.

What now seems almost unbelievable is that, at the time, recruitment centres were lined with volunteers. Municipalities rapidly mobilised to supply the Territorial Defence Forces with everything they could, sometimes even beyond what seemed possible, while also coordinating humanitarian aid and supporting residents in occupied areas and carried out extraordinary efforts.

This was made possible because people felt they were part of the state.Because they felt a sense of connection with the state. They believed they could influence the government and the country's future.

They felt, believed and were able to act thanks to the powers granted to them since 2014.

Strengthened by decentralisation, local self-government has helped foster a sense of civic participation and shared responsibility among municipality residents. At Yale University, it is considered one of the three pillars of democracy. And in 2022, it was the local governments that were preparing Ukraine's municipalities to defend themselves against a possible attack by an aggressor.

We are grateful to the military personnel, who have de-occupied much of the country, continue to hold the front line, and are making every effort to liberate the entire territory of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are defending Ukraine and the entire democratic world. This is a fact recognised by everyone. Just as the fact that Ukrainian municipalities are doing everything, they can, to support our Armed Forces. This is a fact that has been consistently disregarded by the Ukrainian authorities.

Furthermore, resources are being reallocated from local municipality budgets ‒ funds originally intended to finance support for the military, air defence capabilities, and assistance to internally displaced persons. After their withdrawal by the state, these funds remain idle in Treasury accounts for months without being used.

Municipalities face direct obstacles in preparing for the next heating season. According to what some consider informed opinion, state authorities view local self-government as a threat to the state ‒ a fact that raises serious concern.

In the context of a full-scale war, the state authorities are increasingly perceived as identifying internal adversaries within its own public governance structures. Among those who, whether fully or partially, form part of public authority. Such a practice diverts attention from the struggle against the external aggressor and simultaneously weakens the Ukrainian state, which comprises both central executive and local self-government. As a result, as of 1 June 2026, 317 village, settlement, and city mayors in Ukraine have been removed from office or suspended in various ways.

Would Ukraine have survived without strong municipalities and local self-government? No.

This is a fact of the present day and a lesson from history.

During the period of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–1921), it was precisely the lack of genuine local self-government that led to the destruction of the Ukrainian state.

Therefore, Ukraine's adversary is currently promoting a narrative within Ukrainian society and the information space that local self-government is allegedly a threat. However, strong local self-government makes the Ukrainian state unbreakable. Accordingly, any effort to undermine local self-government is, in effect, an attack on the Ukrainian state itself.

There is a threat.

The threat posed by the absence, curtailment or pressure on local self-government. For people are only capable of defending a state that they feel is their own.

Because the state consists of institutions and the people who believe in those institutions.

We need Ukraine – a state that has come into its own and is now defending itself and global democracy.

And Ukraine needs local self-government. Because the Ukrainian state cannot exist without local self-government.

Therefore, to safeguard Ukraine, our Victory and our reconstruction, we must preserve self-government. This is the responsibility of all officials in all government bodies.

Only enemies of the Ukrainian state can be opposed to local self-government.

It is at the level of local self-government that the democratic future of the world and the very existence of Ukraine ‒ is shaped, through education, healthcare, and people's trust in their country, their state, and their municipalities...

Oksana Prodan, Adviser to the Chair of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament (VII–VIII convocations)