Disputes against the background of war: There were differences between Zelensky and mayors - WP

However, a month later, pre -war tensions have emerged between the central government and the regional government due to billions of international assistance in Ukraine. The Washington Post observers came to this conclusion. According to the newspaper, the Ukrainian government is allegedly trying to move away the mayors from financial assistance control to restore cities.

Several officials have told concern because President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready to give up promises and plans for decentralization of power. In particular, the mayor of the Dnieper Boris Filatov speaks about it. According to him, representatives of the central government are trying to dominate the political field, although the mayors are not their competitors. "During the war, autocratic trends are beginning to develop in Ukraine. They are trying to dominate the political field . . .

However, we are not rivals," Filatov said. A specialist from the London analytical center Catham House, Orysia Lutsevich believes that a system should be built in order to win the war in Ukraine, where the mayor will be part of the team for the central government. "There is a central command during the war, and at the same time local authorities can solve problems as they see fit," she emphasized.

According to Lutsevich, Ukrainian mayors are traditionally combined with the ruling national party to have access to power. But if the local party is usually dominated by the local level, then the Zelensky "Servant of the People" party failed in the 2020 local elections. Having received most of the places in the parliamentary elections last year, the party did not receive any place mayor in any big city.

The central leadership of the country controls the huge funds allocated by the international community for the restoration of Ukraine. It also increased its impact in regions where special military administrations were created directly funding in Kiev and which often have more authority than the city authorities. This situation does not suit the mayors, and therefore they are trying to establish links with international partners who are ready to finance specific recovery programs.

As an example, Lutsevich cited Mayor Chernihiv, Vladislav Atroshenko, who made a sharp criticism against Zelensky, accusing the presidential associates of trying to remove him from power. "Today, your subordinates try to remove me from city management and put their person through the appointment of a military administration. The reason is simple: they are interfered with the mayor who tells the truth and protects the interests of Chernihiv, not officials . . .

instead of resisting the attacks of the enemy, the city is forced to endure the attacks ", - Oroshenko said on July 8 in the video. This statement was answered by the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Kirill Tymoshenko, who hinted at the mayor that the city could do without him.

Commenting on the position of Atroshenko, the mayor of Rivne Alexander Tretyak noted that the Chernihiv head is trying to do everything possible to attract investors, to invite business, to invite partners from other countries to help Chernihiv. According to him, he himself is not going to sit with his hands and wait for help for Rivne from the central government. We will remind that the mayor of Chernihiv Vladislav Atroshenko was detained on the border with Poland when he tried to leave Ukraine.