Since 2020, 145 deputies of city councils in regional centers of Ukraine (12.5%) have prematurely terminated their powers. Kropyvnytskyi region is the only one operating with its initial composition, while in Kherson, the number of deputies who resigned their mandates is 37%. This was reported by the "Chesno" movement, according to UNN.
During the current cadence, 145 deputies of city councils in regional centers of Ukraine (12.5%) prematurely terminated their powers. 71% of them submitted personal applications for resignation; another 10% held positions incompatible with deputyship; 12, unfortunately, died; and only 10 were deprived of their powers by their parties. Not a single elected official has been recalled by the voters themselves from the end of 2020 to May 2025.
It is reported that Kropyvnytskyi region is the only one operating with its initial composition. The largest changes in the deputy composition occurred in Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, and Kharkiv, where 21% of elected officials prematurely resigned, in Zaporizhzhia - 22%, in Odesa - 23%, and in Kherson, this number even exceeded a third - 37%.
It is noted that after the de-occupation of Kherson, the powers of local self-government bodies effectively transferred to the military-civil administration, but the city council was not officially dissolved, so 18 out of 20 elected officials personally wrote statements of resignation.
In 2022, when the city was occupied, none of the elected officials lost their mandate. The largest number of deputies resigned last year - 11. A year earlier - 5.
This is a typical situation for the entire country. Most often, city council deputies resigned in 2023 (48) and 2024 (49). And there is a specific reason for this — government resolution No. 69 of January 27, 2023, according to which local council deputies have the right to cross the state border only on the basis of relevant decisions on official business trips. The Association of Ukrainian Cities has repeatedly asked the Cabinet of Ministers to reconsider the ban on traveling abroad for local council deputies and local self-government officials who are not liable for military service.
It is also noted that in the Sumy City Council, two deputies resigned. First, Dmytro Lantushenko from "EU" at a city council session in 2021 announced his withdrawal from the faction and generally from deputyship, but not from politics. He headed the regional branch of the "UDAR Vitaliy Klychko" party. Daria Reznik came to his place in the council, who also left her position in 2023 because she moved abroad.
The composition of the Chernivtsi City Council changed by 21%. All nine deputies resigned voluntarily. In Chernihiv, only four deputies resigned by application.
In Odesa, the full composition of the council currently lacks as many as eight deputies (23%). And this negatively affected the activities of the entire council, in particular the permanent commission on regulations, deputy ethics, and anti-corruption.
In addition, 4 deputies were deprived of their powers by court decisions, including the former mayor of Kherson, the gauleiter of the occupied part of Kherson region - Volodymyr Saldo.
It is also reported that in 2020, the Verkhovna Rada changed the legislation, granting the right to propose the recall of a local council deputy by popular initiative (no earlier than one year after acquiring such powers) to the local organization of the political party from which he was elected a deputy, as well as to citizens of Ukraine who are voters of the relevant district. This was done before the first local elections based on party lists.
From the end of 2021 to May 1, 2025, parties deprived 10 deputies of their powers. The imperative mandate was applied in eight city councils: Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk, Odesa, Poltava, Uzhhorod, Kharkiv, and Cherkasy.
Recall
Earlier, UNN reported that the Verkhovna Rada deprived MP Oles Dovhyi of his deputy mandate, who had previously submitted a statement on the termination of his powers. Now, the Ukrainian parliament has set an anti-record for the number of people's deputies, with only 398 remaining.