Did Ukraine’s ‘mafia-linked’ mayor fall victim to a brewing turf war?

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Kyiv, Ukraine – Pro-Moscow sympathies, corruption and multimillion-dollar embezzlement, reported ties to Ukrainian, Greek and Italian mobsters and the orchestration of assaults connected astir a twelve anticorruption whistleblowers.

That is conscionable an abridged database of the accusations Gennadiy Trukhanov has faced since 2014, erstwhile helium was elected politician of Odesa, the nation’s third-largest metropolis and location to its largest seaport and the naval headquarters.

Russian oregon not?

On October 14, the governmental play intensified.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to portion Trukhanov of Ukrainian citizenship aft a scan of the mayor’s allegedly Russian passport was published by Ukrainian intelligence.

Trukhanov denied having Russian citizenship, though a Panama Papers leak years agone appeared to show that helium had 1 – and utilized it to registry offshore companies.

Two days aft losing his Ukrainian citizenship, Trukhanov was fired arsenic portion of what immoderate observers telephone a turf warfare betwixt cardinal and determination authorities caused by the provisions of martial law, conflicting jurisdictions and Kyiv’s propulsion to rein successful unruly politicians successful front-line regions.

“Trukhanov has agelong had a superior struggle with governmental and ideological opponents; they considered him ideologically unsafe and warred with him for years,” Volodymyr Fesenko, caput of the Kyiv-based Penta deliberation tank, told Al Jazeera.

Russia has not commented connected the incident.

At the clip of publishing, Trukhanov had not responded to Al Jazeera’s petition for comment.

During a quality league connected October 15, helium said helium ne'er held a Russian passport.

“It’s a motivation execution. They conscionable executed me,” helium told the journalists.

He is under location apprehension and is warring to reconstruct his citizenship.

On Wednesday, another enactment with a apical authoritative rocked Ukraine arsenic Zelenskyy suspended Herman Haluschenko arsenic justness curate for his presumed engagement successful a corruption ungraded successful the vigor industry.

The ungraded progressive Zelenskyy’s erstwhile concern partner, who is said to person profited from kickbacks paid by companies that wanted contracts with Energoatom, the state-run monopoly that manages each of Ukraine’s atomic powerfulness stations, according to anticorruption prosecutors and media reports.

Attacks connected anticorruption activists

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agelong wanted to seize Odesa, 1 of the Soviet era’s astir cosmopolitan hubs. It is known arsenic a writer’s city, has a literate depository and is famed for euphony and an absurdist consciousness of humour that helps Ukrainians header with the war.

In 2014, a Moscow-backed separatist uprising threatened the metropolis arsenic clashes killed astir 50 people. In 2022, Russian troops tried to instrumentality implicit the metropolis of 1 million. Today, lethal missiles and drones bring panic to Odesa arsenic the warfare rages on, portion the port’s operations are regularly disrupted.

After the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the 2022 concern of Ukraine’s ports connected the Sea of Azov, the metropolis became a lifeline maritime export way for Ukraine’s atom and steel.

Trukhanov stayed connected arsenic politician aft Zelenskyy came to powerfulness connected an anticorruption summons successful 2019.

Activists successful Odesa person claimed Trukhanov allowed corruption and transgression to prevail successful the years earlier Zelenskyy’s presidency began.

In 2018, Transparency International Ukraine listed a twelve attacks connected activists and “politically exposed persons” successful the metropolis arsenic it published a missive signed by civilian nine representatives calling for action.

In 2019, anticorruption activistic Mykhailo Kuzakon told Al Jazeera, “It was Trukhanov’s goons”, arsenic helium described however a motortruck allegedly sped up to tally him implicit adjacent his location successful Odesa. He survived the incident, which took spot a twelvemonth earlier, but his colleague’s car was destroyed. During the interview, Kuzakon, the caput of the Narodny Rukh (People’s Movement) anticorruption organisation, was wearing a bulletproof vest and had 2 government-provided bodyguards adjacent to him.

Investigations into the onslaught connected him and different activists did not reason that Trukhanov was progressive aft cardinal witnesses refused to attest and grounds went missing.

An excuse for sacking?

Kyiv had been acrophobic of imaginable protestation rallies that could travel Trukhanov’s sacking, according to Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher with Germany’s Bremen University, until a tragic calamity provided a utile excuse.

On October 1, torrential rains flooded Odesa, damaging hundreds of buildings and sidesplitting 11, including a child. Critics said the catastrophe highlighted the Trukhanov administration’s nonaccomplishment to physique an effectual drainage strategy contempt perennial warnings.

And for the remainder of Ukraine, Zelenskyy’s medication “reanimated the communicative with [Trukhanov’s Russian] passport that is 15 years aged and that didn’t halt [the mayor] from efficaciously managing Odesa during the three-and-a-half years of war,” Mitrokhin told Al Jazeera.

Some Odesans agree.

“Everybody has known for years that Trukhanov had a Russian passport. Everybody has known astir his ties to the mob and his manus successful each pie,” Oleh, a 43-year-old Odesa autochthonal who withheld his past sanction arsenic helium fears for his safety, told Al Jazeera. “He was sacked due to the fact that lone present Zelenskyy is beardown capable to get him retired of the game.”

In 1998, Italian constabulary described Trukhanov arsenic portion of a mafia radical suspected of extortion and arms trafficking. Their study said Trukhanov utilized a Greek passport and was liable for grooming pack members successful hand-to-hand combat and sniper shooting.

Trukhanov denied the claims but admitted relationship with the radical identified arsenic the gang’s leaders.

Others person mixed feelings astir Trukhanov’s legacy, crediting him with defending Odesa from Russian forces, but besides snubbing the historical centre of the city, founded successful 1794.

“Odesa is soiled and shabby. He didn’t instrumentality bully attraction of it; [historic] buildings request renovation, trees request a trim,” bureau manager Zynaida, who moved to Odesa from cardinal Ukraine, told Al Jazeera. She withheld her past sanction for information reasons.

Trukhanov volition not beryllium replaced by an elected mayor. His 70-year-old deputy, erstwhile assemblage prof Ihor Koval, is present acting mayor. Zelenskyy has appointed General Serhiy Lysak arsenic caput of Odesa’s subject administration.

Lysak is connected to Zelenskyy’s governmental clan, which mostly consists of figures from the cities of Dnipro and Kryvyi Rih. The radical had already tried to summation a foothold successful Odesa successful 2014, said expert Mitrokhin.

Ex-boxer boxed in

Trukhanov’s dismissal followed Zelenskyy’s unit connected different almighty heavyweights, including a literal one.

Vitali Klitschko, a erstwhile heavyweight boxing champion and politician of Kyiv since 2014, has been embroiled successful a power struggle with Zelenskyy for years.

Klitschko disliked Zelenskyy agelong earlier the president – a fashionable comedian, histrion and shaper – became a politician.

Zelenskyy’s District 95 comic troupe mocked Klitschko, portraying him successful their routines arsenic incoherent.

In existent life, Klitschko was a adjacent state of Zelenskyy’s statesmanlike predecessor and main rival, Petro Poroshenko.

In 2023, Zelenskyy accused Klitschko of failing information measures aft a rocket onslaught killed a nine-year-old girl, her parent and their neighbour arsenic they tried to participate a closed-down weaponry shelter.

Their feud grew aft Zelenskyy’s assignment of “martial instrumentality chief” Tymur Tkachenko arsenic caput of Kyiv’s subject medication successful precocious 2023.

Tkachenko took implicit immoderate administrative responsibilities, but critics doubted the necessity of specified a fig successful the metropolis that sits hundreds of kilometres from the beforehand line. When Russia began its full-scale penetration successful February 2022, Russian forces failed to prehend Kyiv and withdrew from the region.

The Klitschko and Trukhanov rows could manifest Zelenskyy’s propulsion to quell governmental absorption “at least” successful Ukraine’s southbound and centre.

“That’s wherever helium sees his electoral base,” expert Mitrokhin told Al Jazeera.

He predicted that Andriy Sadovyi, the politician of Lviv successful occidental Ukraine and different notable professional of Zelenskyy, could beryllium sidelined arsenic the portion voted against Zelenskyy successful the 2019 vote.

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