The incompetence of the mayor and the city council secretary — a councillor on what triggered the crisis of authority in Pivdennoukrainsk

Olena Petryna, a councillor in the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council. Photo: yuzhkanews.city

The crisis in the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council began when councillors sought to table a motion for the early termination of the powers of the mayor and the city council secretary on grounds of incompetence. At present, the session is being constantly postponed, and the regional leadership supports the establishment of a military administration in the city.

This was reported in a comment to NikVesti by Olena Petryna, a councillor of the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council.

The councillor commented on the situation regarding the numerous postponements of the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council session.

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«There are many reasons for this. Firstly, the city council secretary is afraid of being dismissed. Although we did not even put personnel issues on the agenda (for the extraordinary session on 12 June, — note). The second is the introduction of military administration,» noted Olena Petryna.

She explained that it all began because the councillors wanted to consider the issue of terminating the powers of Mayor Valerii Onufriienko and City Council Secretary Denys Kravchenko.

«In fact, that is why all this began. Due to the incompetence of the mayor and the city council secretary, the council members repeatedly attempted to raise the issue of terminating their powers early. But after the regional authorities intervened in the activities of the local government, they found support there,» the councillor noted.

According to Olena Petryna, following a meeting with the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, they had been considering a compromise between the councillors and the city leadership. But now there is talk of establishing a military administration in the city.

«The head of the military administration, Vitalii Kim, came to see us. We met, we talked, we seemed to have reached some sort of compromise – who was unhappy with what, how we would proceed – but it didn’t turn out as we’d hoped, so to speak... So now their aim is to introduce a military administration,» commented the councillor.

It should be noted that the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council website features a draft resolution dated 15 September 2025, proposing the early termination of Mayor Valerii Onufriienko’s powers.

Draft resolution on the termination of the mayor of Pivdennoukrainsk’s powers. Screenshot from the city council’s website

It should be recalled that Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, told NikVesti that there is a misunderstanding between the mayor of Pivdennoukrainsk, Valerii Onufriienko, and the city council members, which is why the city is in a state of neglect. The head of the Regional Military Administration submitted documents to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requesting the establishment of a municipal military administration in Pivdennoukrainsk.

The crisis of authority in Pivdennoukrainsk

As a reminder, in 2025, city councillors in Pivdennoukrainsk were unable to convene for several consecutive sessions, meaning the city still did not have an approved budget for 2026. Consequently, Mayor Valerii Onufriienko appealed to the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, requesting the establishment of a military administration in the Pivdennoukrainsk municipal territorial community.

Since February 2026, councillors have again been unable to convene for a session.

The councillor stated that there are plans to establish a military administration in Pivdennoukrainsk. According to the him, Energoatom, the Office of the President and the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration are intervening in this process to control the budget.

Earlier, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, said that he saw no legal grounds for introducing a military administration in Pivdennoukrainsk at the request of the mayor, Valerii Onufriienko, but that the matter would still be investigated.

Heorhii Reshetilov, deputy head of the Regional State Administration, also explained that the decision to establish a military administration is taken by the president, and for this there must be grounds clearly defined by law. This must either be linked to military consequences or the suspension of local self-government bodies.

In May 2026, the mayor of Pivdennoukrainsk, Valerii Onufriienko, told NikVesti that there is currently a need to introduce a military administration in the city.

In addition, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, submitted documents to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requesting the establishment of a municipal military administration in Pivdennoukrainsk.

In June, following the postponement of meetings by City Council Secretary Denys Kravchenko, councillors convened a session themselves. The main issue that needed to be agreed upon on 12 June specifically was granting consent to receive a grant from Denmark via NEFCO for the reconstruction of the sewage pumping stations and pressure pipeline system in Pivdennoukrainsk.

However, the councillors were unable to meet because, according to them, the meeting had not been organised: the city council secretary had taken the keys to the meeting room and the councillors were denied access to the voting system.