GENICHESK, October 14. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky has stripped Odessa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov of his Ukrainian citizenship and mayorship so that he can seize control of the city's lucrative smuggling business, Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo said.

As the host of a Ukrainian telethon held on Tuesday reported, citing sources in the Zelensky administration, the head of the Kiev regime signed a decree depriving Trukhanov of Ukrainian citizenship, which automatically unseats him as head of the city.

"The real reason is obvious: Zelensky needs to clear the field and establish full control over Odessa’s financial flows, including income from smuggling. He couldn’t get rid of Trukhanov, so he took this route," Saldo said on Telegram.

According to him, Trukhanov tried to play by Ukrainian rules, "flirted with neo-Nazis" and did not work in the interests of Odessa residents, but still "did not fit into the terrorist organization Ukrainian State."

A request to Zelensky demanding that Trukhanov's Ukrainian citizenship be terminated gained the 25,000 votes necessary for consideration by the head of state in less than a day. The author of the appeal, Miroslav Otkovich, argued that journalists had repeatedly published materials about Trukhanov's likely Russian citizenship. Trukhanov denies having a Russian passport.