Kyiv mayor accuses Zelenskyy of authoritarianism amid corruption scandal

Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko has accused President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of power centralisation, claiming that Ukraine now "stinks of authoritarianism".

Source: Klitschko in a comment to the Times

Details: The Times posted a comprehensive article about "the most famous Ukrainian politicians in the international arena", noting that at the outset of the war, Zelenskyy, leveraging martial law, appointed a military administration in Kyiv, which overlaps with the mayor’s authority.

Meanwhile, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), through its Clean City operation, uncovered widespread corruption within Klitschko’s circle, leading to the arrest of seven of his subordinates.

Klitschko stated that the Kyiv City Council’s operations have been disrupted by "raids, interrogations and threats of fabricated criminal cases", preventing councillors from achieving a quorum for decision-making.

Quote from Klitschko: "This is a purge of democratic principles and institutions under the guise of war.

I said once that it smells of authoritarianism in our country. Now it stinks."

The Times reports that this conflict is not only political but also personal.

Klitschko portrays the situation as an attempt by the president to centralise power, reflecting growing concerns that Zelenskyy’s consolidation of authority during the war is undermining democracy. He accused the president of using military administrations to strip powers from democratically elected mayors.

Quote from Klitschko: "Many of the mayors are intimidated, but my celebrity status is a protection. You can fire the mayor of Chernihiv, but it is very difficult to fire the mayor of the capital who the whole world knows."

Background: 

• On 6 February 2025, it was revealed that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau was investigating businessman and former Kyiv city councillor Denys Komarnytskyi.
• Later, the NABU press office announced that the Bureau and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office "are conducting a large-scale operation" called Clean City "to expose a criminal organisation involved in land corruption in the Kyiv City Council".
• As part of the case, Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ordered the two-month detention of Petro Olenych, Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration, setting his bail at UAH 15 million (approx. US$361,300). A similar preventive measure was imposed on Mykhailo Terentiev, Head of the Land Commission, who was also placed in custody for two months with bail set at nearly UAH 20 million (around US$481,700).
• Komarnytskyi was discovered abroad by Ukrainska Pravda. On 26 March, it was reported that three police officers had been fired in connection with Komarnytskyi’s departure from the country.

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