Court halts recall of Uman mayor Pletnyova, but city engulfed in protests

The legal status of Uman city head Iryna Pletnyova remains unchanged: the court has temporarily suspended the effect of the "For the Future" party's decision to recall her. However, this decision has not quelled protest sentiments in the city. On the contrary, in early autumn, Uman turned into an epicentre of political tension, where street actions escalated into an indefinite protest, and the parties to the conflict exchange accusations of abuse of power and political revenge.

From allies to enemies: the roots of the conflict

The dispute between Pletnyova and People's Deputy Anton Yatsenko has deep roots. They were once political partners, but relations deteriorated sharply with the start of the full-scale invasion. According to the mayor, the key moment was 25 February 2022, when the city council considered a programme to support territorial defence and allocate funds to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Territorial Defence Forces. Pletnyova claims that Yatsenko then expressed doubts about the expediency of such decisions, citing the uncertainty of the situation in Kyiv. After that, she alleges, the MP lost influence over the city council's work. Yatsenko categorically denies these accusations, but the alliance collapsed, and former partners became open opponents.

Party course change and rapid escalation of pressure

The chronology of events in 2026 indicates a rapid escalation of pressure on local authorities. On 11 May, the Cherkasy regional organisation of the "For the Future" party rejected a proposal to recall eight deputies of the Uman City Council. However, by 25 May, the leadership of the regional organisation had passed to Anton Yatsenko, who replaced Cherkasy mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko in this position. On 31 May, at a new party meeting, the issue of recalling Uman deputies and seven deputies of the Cherkasy Regional Council was supported. This sequence of events — from refusal to a change in leadership and subsequent support for the initiative — became the subject of journalists' attention.

On 11 June, Yatsenko publicly announced the collection of signatures for a vote of no confidence in Iryna Pletnyova. On 27 June, he called on residents to join the preparation of the meeting, and on 29 June, he suggested that those willing call him personally to coordinate with the organising committee. The MP formulated the goal openly: «...давайте спільно в законний спосіб цю владу знімемо» (let us jointly remove this power in a legal way).

The role of the MP's assistants in the initiative group

On 26 July 2026, a meeting of voters was held in Uman, where an initiative group for the recall of the mayor was formed. It was headed by Valentyn Khitruk, and Rostyslav Abramovsky was appointed secretary. Although formally these are representatives of the community, the official register of the Verkhovna Rada indicates their connection with Yatsenko: Khitruk works as the MP's assistant on a voluntary basis, while Abramovsky is his staff assistant-consultant. On social media, Khitruk actively duplicated Yatsenko's positions regarding the collection of signatures.

Anatoliy Ivanov, a former judge of the Uman City and District Court, who was previously involved in a corruption scandal over suspicions of demanding bribes, also joined the group. According to journalists, Ivanov is currently under detention in a case involving the extortion of funds from military personnel. Despite this, he publicly called on Uman residents to sign letters for the recall of the mayor. Yatsenko insists that the initiative was independent and that he only supported citizens, but the connections of the process participants with his headquarters cast doubt on the "popular" nature of the action.

Disputes over the collection of signatures

The initiative group had 20 days to collect signatures and, according to its own data, gathered 6,710 signatures. At least 6,074 signatures were required to launch the procedure, which corresponds to the number of votes Pletnyova received in the 2020 elections. However, members of the Territorial Electoral Commission (TEC) expressed serious reservations about the legitimacy of the collected documents.

One TEC member stated that the procedure was violated: many people denied the fact of signing, some signatories did not answer when contacted during police verification, and some of them were not even residents of Uman. Ihor Domanovsky, another commission member, suggested that the data might have been copied from the database of Yatsenko's charitable foundation. He recalled that in spring, residents received seeds at the MP's headquarters, leaving their passport details, and were later allegedly called with a question about the possibility of signing letters on their behalf.

Procedural violations and the TEC decision

On 18 August, the initiative group submitted 6,710 signatures to the TEC. The commission verified only about 19% of them, i.e. 1,287 letters. According to Domanovsky, the State Register of Voters revealed that 1,020 of the 1,187 letters submitted to him lacked an address, which is grounds for removal under Article 41 of the law. According to the commission's calculations, 46% of the documents listed only the city name, and almost 99% of the letters did not meet the requirements for completeness of information. Despite this, Domanovsky says, the commission made an illegal decision and recognised all these votes as valid.

On 2 September, five days before the decision was adopted, the Central Electoral Commission changed the composition of the Uman City TEC. Domanovsky is convinced that these personnel changes formed a majority that voted in a coordinated manner to accept the documents, ignoring objections regarding violations. On 7 September, the TEC sent the documents to the "For the Future" party, and on 8 September, the party congress adopted a decision to recall Iryna Pletnyova from the post of city head.

Judicial twists and street protest

Pletnyova challenged the decision, citing numerous violations: signatures in one handwriting, signatures of people not from the community, and "dead souls". On 16 September, the court temporarily suspended the effect of the party's decision, allowing the mayor to continue exercising her powers. Yatsenko's lawyers are trying to cancel this restriction, and the main hearing of the case is ongoing.

On 24 September, at an extraordinary session of the Uman City Council, deputies adopted four appeals regarding the actions of Anton Yatsenko: to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP). They raised the issue of possible political pressure on local self-government and requested an investigation into the MP's actions for possible corruption offences and abuse of power.

Yatsenko stated that if the court halts the recall, a "revolutionary situation" may arise in Uman and a long-term Maidan will begin. On 26 September, about a hundred people gathered in the city centre demanding that Pletnyova not be returned to office, declaring the action indefinite. Among the co-organisers is Olena Krainieva, a member of the initiative group. Valentyn Khitruk called on city residents to gather again on 10 October at 12:00 in the central square with placards. Thus, Uman remains in a state of uncertainty, where legal battles intertwine with street confrontation.