Association of Ukrainian Cities: 17 heads of municipal communities step down amid prosecutor pressure on local self-government in Kherson region
A governance crisis is worsening in the Kherson region. At least 17 heads of municipal communities have left their posts amid systematic pressure from the prosecutor’s office authorities.
This was stated by Volodymyr Kovalenko, acting head of the Kherson regional branch of the Association of Ukrainian Cities (AUC) and mayor of Nova Kakhovka, the AUC reports, Censor.NET informs.
17 community heads resigned
"Most communities are headed by military administrations. The situation there is difficult. The head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration (RMA), Oleksandr Prokudin, himself noted that the work of municipalities is effectively being made impossible. I cannot give an exact number of resignations. This information comes from communication with our director. But public information indicates at least 17 people," Kovalenko said.
Key processes are halted due to pressure
Pressure from the prosecutor’s office leads to a halt in key processes: providing assistance to the population, building shelters, and restoring infrastructure facilities. These areas are priorities for frontline communities today, but project implementation is being blocked even before work actually begins.
"No one is against inspections; if there are violations, that is one situation. But all this happens at the design stage or when tenders are announced, and every decision is immediately questioned, which blocks the work," Kovalenko explained.
The Association of Ukrainian Cities also drew attention to the scale of resignations and the critical nature of the situation, stating that the problem is systemic.
"Since February 24, 2022, communities have faced a choice: wait for legislative changes from Parliament and the government, or defend the country and save community residents. For all actions by municipal bodies and enterprises aimed at saving people, criminal proceedings are being registered, even contrary to Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Prosecutor’s Office’," the AUC’s position says.
- The Board of the Association of Ukrainian Cities addressed the president with an open letter over pressure by the prosecutor’s office authorities on local self-government.
- The AUC believes a clear joint position is needed on the importance of local self-government bodies’ work and the inadmissibility of pressure on them.
