Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has placed the Black Sea metropolis of Odessa under military administration amid a conflict with the city’s mayor.

In a decree issued on Wednesday, Zelensky established the new military administration and appointed intelligence general Serhii Lysak as its head.

Lysak was simultaneously relieved of his position as military governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, a role he had held for more than two and a half years, to take on this new responsibility.

On Tuesday, Zelensky revoked the citizenship of Gennadiy Trukhanov, who has been Odessa’s mayor for more than 10 years, saying the mayor had a Russian passport.

Trukhanov denies the accusation, intends to file a lawsuit against Zelensky’s decision, and is holding on to his position as mayor.

However with the loss of his citizenship, the city leader is also effectively removed from office and could even face deportation.

“Far too many security issues in Odessa remained unanswered for far too long,” Zelensky said on Tuesday without providing specific details. He added that the city needed stronger protection and more support.

Trukhanov, who has repeatedly condemned Russia for its numerous attacks on Odessa, has been mayor of the strategically important port city of over 1 million residents since 2014.

Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian invasion for more than three and a half years.

Zelensky’s actions face criticism

Critics of Zelensky accuse him of increasingly replacing elected officials with military administrations led by his confidants.

Due to the ongoing martial law, the local elections originally scheduled for late October have been postponed. However, the mandates of all local representatives have been extended until the end of the war by a parliamentary resolution.

Zelensky has long faced accusations of authoritarian tendencies, including from Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko. In recent days, tensions between Klitschko and Tymur Tkachenko — the military administrator appointed by Zelensky — have flared publicly. The president recently criticized Klitschko over power outages caused by Russian drone attacks.

Ukraine orders evacuation of towns near Kupiansk

Ukrainian authorities have ordered the evacuation of families with children from more communities in the eastern Kharkiv region due to a “worsening security situation” around the long-contested city of Kupiansk.

Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Wednesday that the evacuation affects 40 towns and involves 409 families with 601 children.

Kupiansk, which has been nearly totally destroyed by Russian attacks, is strategically important due to its location and transport links. Several towns in the surrounding area have already been evacuated as Russian forces try to advance westward.

Zelensky described the situation along the Kupiansk front as “difficult” at the end of September.

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