Ukraine's Security Service reveals Odesa Mayor Trukhanov's Russian passport
Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov has been stripped of Ukrainian citizenship because he is a citizen of Russia and holds a valid passport of the Russian Federation. Although a Russian court annulled his internal passport in 2017, this does not constitute grounds for the loss of Russian citizenship.
Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SSU)
Quote: "As established by the SSU, the current mayor of Odesa, Hennadii Trukhanov, is a citizen of the Russian Federation and holds a valid passport of the aggressor state. The Ukrainian Security Service possesses copies of the relevant documents."
Details: The SSU reported that on 15 December 2015, after Russia had already begun its aggression against Ukraine and occupied Crimea as well as parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, Trukhanov obtained a passport from the occupying state.
The passport was issued for ten years and remains valid.
As for his internal Russian passport, the SSU says Trukhanov's representatives applied to Russian authorities in 2017, and a court in Moscow Oblast annulled its validity.
However, the court explained that the cancellation or voluntary surrender of such a document "does not entail the loss of citizenship of the Russian Federation acquired on a legal basis".
Thus, Trukhanov remains a citizen of the Russian Federation.
He also has a taxpayer identification number registered in the database of Russia's Federal Tax Service.
Quote: "The Commission on Citizenship under the President of Ukraine has decided to terminate the citizenship of our state for Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov. This decision, in particular, is based on the evidence gathered by the Security Service and has been approved by the decree of the President of Ukraine."
- On 14 October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had signed a decree concerning "individuals [who] hold Russian citizenship", without disclosing any names.
- However, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne confirmed via government sources that Trukhanov was among those concerned.
- Hennadii Trukhanov has served as Odesa mayor since 2014, when the first reports emerged alleging that he held Russian citizenship. Under Ukraine's law on local self-government, loss of citizenship is grounds for the early termination of a mayor's powers.
- Trukhanov denied holding Russian citizenship and called the decision to strip him of Ukrainian citizenship a "falsification". He said he will file a lawsuit in court.
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