MP Yermolaiev calls Kyseliova a figurehead chair of the Commission on Legality

Deputy Yermolaiev criticised the head of the «Commission on Legality» Kiseliova during a session of the City Council. Screenshot from the broadcast of the session

The head of Mykolaiv's anti-corruption department, deputy from the party «Proposal» Andrii Yermolaiev criticised the work of the head of the commission on deputy ethics, Olena Kiseliova.

During his speech at a session of the Mykolaiv City Council, he called his colleague «a figurehead» chair of the commission, NikVesti reports.

At the beginning of the session, Olena Kiseliova asked to shorten her speech and move on to the agenda of the Mykolaiv City Council, speaking sharply about the deputies from the new group «Sanitation», which included Andrii Yermolaev.

In response, he noted that the Legality Commission had never raised the issue of early submission of draft decisions to the sessions, nor had it discussed the serving of suspicions on the head of the utility company «GDMB» or the permission to install a petrol station in the green zone.

«Olena Vasylivna is very interesting in her calls for constructive debate, and apparently she did, and then she immediately pissed everyone off. She refers to the regulations a lot, but I haven't seen her reaction as the head of the commission to the numerous violations of the regulations. Well, apparently, this is the session of 2025, when the deputies were sent the materials of the session as required by the regulations. Usually, they are sent the day before. I don't remember that this was considered by the Legality Commission. Nor was the issue of considering comments and proposals considered by the initiators. None of this has ever been considered by the Legality Commission. The issue of petrol stations in the green zone. The two suspicions against the head of the State Department of Public Works were not considered either. I can go on and on. This is a case that is being considered because it is convenient for someone, right, Olena Vasylivna? I believe that you are some kind of a fake head of this commission, for fun, not for real,» said Andrii Yermolaiev.

It should be noted that on 30 October, for the first time since 24 February 2022, Mykolaiv City Council partially met for an offline session. Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych offered the deputies a hybrid format of work, similar to their colleagues in Dnipro.

Before the session, it became known that Vladyslav Chaika, a deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council elected from the banned party «Opposition Platform «For Life», said that he had not been warned about the offline session of the City Council.

As a reminder, the sessions of Mykolaiv city and regional councils are currently held online. Over the past four years, members of the regional council have met offline only a few times, including in November 2024, May 2025, and October 2025.

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, believes that holding sessions online has not affected the work of the city council. Recently, it became known that the city council has not shown the faces of its deputies for two months as a confirmation of their personal presence at the meetings of the sessions, which have been held via video conferencing for four years.

Following this, Ukrainian blogger and author of the telegram channel «Lachen writes» Ihor Lachenkov called on Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych to hold a city council meeting offline.