Authorities have launched hunt for mayors - depriving hromadas of elected leaders through trumped-up cases, - AUC
Pressure on local self-government continues to increase. More and more often, heads of local communities are being removed from office under false pretences, in violation of the law.
This was stated by the Association of Ukrainian Cities, which appealed to the President to protect local self-government, Censor.NET reports.
"Systemic pressure on local self-government weakens communities and Ukraine as a whole, and therefore leads to a weakening of the country in the war against the aggressor, making the path to our Victory more difficult. Local self-government is the foundation of democracy and an important part of protecting Ukraine's independence during a full-scale invasion, and strong local self-government is how we differ from Putin's russia," the AUC said in its statement.
The Association cited examples of increased pressure on local governments. In particular, 201 military administrations of settlements have already been established, despite the fact that there are 157 communities in the temporarily occupied territories. There are also more frequent cases of dismissal of heads of small communities as early as 2025.
In particular, the head of the Netishyn City Council, Oleksandr Supruniuk, was suspended from his duties for 60 days with house arrest at the initiative of the Shepetivka District Police Department of the Main Department of the National Police in Khmelnytskyi region for the purchase of drones for military units by the municipality. The head of the Drohobych City Council, Taras Kuchma, was forcibly taken to the police station at the initiative of the Drohobych District TCR because of the community's celebration of Unity Day. The head of Irpin City Council, Oleksandr Markushyn, was arrested for 60 days or offered to post UAH 30 million bail for the legal travel abroad of a single father whose two-year-old son's mother died.
"This is only a part of the cases in the first month of this year, when hromadas are deprived of their elected leaders by artificial cases of state authorities," the AUC stressed.
Earlier it became known that the security forces had been instructed by the Presidential Office to find something on Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko - 29 search warrants were issued for his immediate entourage. And in Chernihiv, the heads of military administrations took the city hostage to force the resignation of acting mayor Oleksandr Lomako.
