Local government crisis in Pivdennoukrainsk: mayor calls again for military administration

The mayor of Pivdennoukrainsk, Valerii Onufrienko, has called for a military administration to be established in the city. Photo: yu.mk.ua

The mayor of Pivdennoukrainsk, Valerii Onufriienko, believes that there is currently a need to introduce military administration in the city. City councillors have failed to convene for a session five times already.

The mayor told NikVesti this whilst commenting on the situation in the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council, which has been unable to hold a meeting since the start of the year.

He noted that the main reason the sessions are not taking place lies with the councillors.

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«Most of the reasons lie with the councillors. If the councillors attended the sessions, they would take place,» commented Valerii Onufriienko.

He believes that there is now a need to establish a military administration in Pivdennoukrainsk. But this decision, he said, must be taken by the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim.

«I myself proposed in December that a military administration be introduced. I think there is a need for this now. I approached the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, in December, when the deputies had already failed to convene for a session three times, and we needed to adopt the budget. When I announced that I would approach Vitalii Kim, the deputies gathered. You understand yourself that if a military administration is introduced, the deputies will lose many of their rights, particularly their influence over the budget. This is what they were afraid of. But by February, the deputies were already unable to convene,» commented Valerii Onufriienko.

The mayor of Pivdennoukrainsk noted that there are suitable candidates in the city for the post of head of the administration should it be established.

«I’d heard through the grapevine that three candidates had initially been put forward. But it’s not yet known which candidates Vitalii Kim has put forward. Only he and those in Kyiv know. The fact that someone has been spreading rumours—perhaps Ivan Kukhta, perhaps him—is possible. Anything could happen. We have worthy people here too, military personnel who could be appointed, but this is Vitaliy Kim’s decision, so no one can influence it,» added the mayor of Pivdennoukrainsk.

It should be noted that the 69th session in Pivdennoukrainsk was due to take place on 14 May. However, it was postponed to 21 May. The order issued by the city council secretary, Denys Kravchenko, states that the issues tabled for the session back on 13 February are to be considered.

Order on the postponement of the session in Pivdennoukrainsk. Screenshot of the document from the city council website

History of session postponements

As a reminder, in 2025 in Pivdennoukrainsk, city council members were unable to convene for several sessions in a row, meaning the city still did not have an approved budget for 2026. Consequently, Mayor Valerii Onufriienko appealed to the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, requesting the establishment of a military administration in the Pivdennoukrainsk City Territorial Community

In 2026, the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council has been postponing meetings since winter because it cannot achieve a quorum. The last time councillors met was on 22 January. The city council’s website reported that the 68th session had been scheduled for October 2025 and had been postponed several times due to a lack of quorum.

On 9 April, the South Ukrainian City Council failed to convene for the fourth time: only 11 councillors attended the 69th session.

In addition, the councillor stated that there are plans to establish a military administration in Pivdennoukrainsk. According to the councillor, «Energoatom», the Office of the President and the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration are intervening in this process to control the budget.

Earlier, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, said that he saw no legal grounds for introducing a military administration in Pivdennoukrainsk at the request of the mayor, Valerii Onufriienko, but that the matter would still be investigated.

Heorhii Reshetilov, deputy head of the Regional State Administration, also explained that the decision to establish a military administration is taken by the president, and for this there must be grounds clearly defined by law. This must either be linked to military consequences or the suspension of local self-government bodies.

On 23 April, the councillors of the South Ukrainian City Council once again failed to convene for a session.