And again… Kyiv is becoming a place of political intrigue. And not only Kyiv

29 January 18:14

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko claims an attempt to unbalance the government and destroy local self-government and accuses the newly appointed head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, of blocking key economic issues and trying to take over the mayor’s powers. The mayor stated this in an open letter to the President of Ukraine, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.

According to Vitali Klitschko, these processes are becoming critical.

“The new head of the KCSA, who has no military education or experience and has replaced combat generals, is blocking the resolution of key economic issues. Restoration of damaged buildings, compensation to affected residents, restoration of infrastructure, etc. This destabilizes the city’s governance and threatens the life support of the capital. At the same time, the head of the KCSA is trying to take over the powers of the mayor, city council and KCSA, violating the law. Kyiv residents elected the mayor of the city they live in. And I will continue to protect their interests,” the mayor outlined the situation.

Vitali Klitschko asked the President, as the guarantor of the Constitution, to prevent the destruction of local self-government, the foundation of democracy.

What about the other side?

It is significant that less than a week ago, when outlining his first steps in his new position, the newly appointed head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, Timur Tkachenko, also mentioned the head of state, emphasizing that he “had a fruitful conversation with the President of Ukraine.”

At the time, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration said that “the issue of security and effective work of Kyiv remains strategically important,” that “the capital of Ukraine has the largest budget and resources in the country, but even with such advantages, Kyiv residents face problems that require immediate solutions.”

According to Timur Tkachenko, there is only one way out of this situation – change.

“That is why we start with something that Kyiv residents can feel immediately – the replacement of heads of district state administrations,” said the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration.

It is not known whether Kyiv residents have felt it. But the mayor, judging by his statement, has already felt the changes.

The mayor is not the only one who cares about the capital

Earlier this week, the Board of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, headed by Vitali Klitschko, also issued an appeal to the President of Ukraine, also calling for the protection of citizens’ rights to local self-government, democracy and justice.

The Association of Ukrainian Cities cited examples of violations of the law, procedures, and fairness in the conduct of procedural actions by law enforcement and judicial authorities against the heads of small communities as early as 2025. In this regard, the appeal mentioned the cases of Oleksandr Suprunyuk, head of the Netishyn City Council, Oleksandr Markushyn, head of the Irpin City Council, and Taras Kuchma, head of the Drohobych City Council.

What is known about these cases

Oleksandr Supruniuk, the mayor of Netishyn, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, was charged by the prosecutor’s office with negligence, and the court placed him under nightly house arrest and then removed him from office.

The indictment states that in 2024, the city council purchased thousands of quadcopters for more than UAH 16 million to supply the Defense Forces. The contractor allegedly took possession of part of the amount, installed navigation equipment on the drones that was twice as cheap and of lower quality, and the mayor signed the acceptance certificates without making sure that the equipment supplied by the contractor met the agreed characteristics. Mr. Suprunyuk calls the evidence of law enforcement officers fabricated and says that no complaints have been received about the drones handed over to the military by the Netishyn City Council.

The day before, a court suspended the mayor of Irpin, Oleksandr Markushyn, from his duties for the duration of the investigation into his travel abroad in 2022. This was reported by Oleksandr Markushyn on his Telegram channel.

Earlier it was reported that the Pechersk Court of Kyiv sent the mayor of Irpin to custody until March 22 with the possibility of posting a bail of UAH 30 million. As for the case, it is related to the travel abroad of the mayor of Irpin from August 24 to August 30, 2022. According to law enforcement officials, Markushyn allegedly went to Italy not to help the military, but to see his 2-year-old son. Oleksandr Markushyn himself states that he “went abroad for a few days after the permission of the Kyiv Military District Administration, saw his son, returned and brought two drones.” He calls the case against him “politicized and ordered”.

The mayor of Drohobych, Lviv region, Taras Kuchma, was fined 34 thousand hryvnias. This was done by the local Military Commissariat for allegedly “failing to carry out mobilization activities at the proper level”. This information was confirmed by Taras Kuchma himself in a comment for TSN.ua.

He explained that “there is a government decree stating that the responsibility for mobilization processes lies with local governments.

“But I told the Deputy Prime Minister that there is no database. Maybe our mobilization process has already been exhausted. All those who could be taken away have been taken away,” the mayor responded to the TCC’s claims and said that he would challenge the fine in court. In his opinion, this is “complete nonsense”.

By the way, according to Taras Kuchma, not only he was fined, but also the mayors of Truskavets, Boryslav, and others.

Василевич Сергій
Editor