«I am supported by the majority of Odesa residents. I'm not going anywhere», — journalists met Trukhanov near Odesa City Hall

Gennadiy Trukhanov at the Recovery Conference in Rome. Photo: «_nikvesti»

Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov said that he is supported by the majority of citizens and has no plans to leave Ukraine.

A video of the conversation with the mayor was published by journalist Vladyslav Balinskyi, according to NikVesti.

As you know, on Tuesday, 14 October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy deprived Hennadii Trukhanov of Ukrainian citizenship.

Advertising

The journalist approached the mayor as he was going to the city council and asked what he planned to do next. Gennadiy Trukhanov replied that he would appeal the decision in court.

«You can see that these are pure fakes, we can treat each other differently. Moreover, in 2022 there was such a petition, but the president instructed... There is an official response,» the mayor began to explain.

However, the journalist noted that she knew about the Russian passport and had personally seen a copy of it. The mayor of Odesa denied this.

In his opinion, this decision was made to prevent him from running in the next local elections.

«I will be frank: I don't have that passport. I can show you a lot of things too. Are you satisfied? I am not going to leave Odesa or Ukraine. Why did they do this? If I am stateless, I cannot run for office. They are afraid if I won the election,» said Hennadii Trukhanov.

«You have been mayor for 11 years. Maybe let's take a break from each other,» the journalist said.

«Okay, you should go on holiday,» the mayor joked.

«Don't you want to raise your grandchildren?» she asked.

«I respect your opinion, but you are, as they say, a minority today. I am supported by the majority of Odesa residents. And you should be happy today, open the champagne,» said Hennadii Trukhanov.

It is worth noting that just the day before, Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov said that the President's Office was preparing an initiative to deprive him of Ukrainian citizenship and called these intentions part of «another provocation».

In less than a day, 25,000 people signed a petition demanding that Hennadii Trukhanov be stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship. The initiative gained the required number of votes after the natural disaster of 30 September, when ten people died. In response, Hennadii Trukhanov said that he was ready to undergo any test, including a polygraph, to prove that he did not hold a Russian passport.

In addition, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to an electronic petition to establish a military administration in Odesa.

Ukrainian journalists have repeatedly published investigations into Trukhanov's Russian citizenship. They wrote about it in «Slidstvo. Info» and Hromadske. In 2016, the Security Service of Ukraine began checking the Odesa mayor's ties to Russia, but later the agency said it was unable to find out whether he really had a Russian passport.