Next month, the city of Kryvyi Rih — one of Ukraine’s largest industrial centres — faces a new round of mayoral elections. These elections will be special, and not just because the last round were declared void due to falsifications. While the political battle over a fresh round of elections for this city has only just come to an end, this race has an important symbolic meaning: in a city vulnerable to oligarch control, can residents remove the local clan from power?
The last attempt ended in failure: the current mayor Yuri Vilkul, an influential former member of the Party of Regions, won a close victory in the second round of elections in November last year. These results have since been annulled: after evidence of falsification emerged, Ukraine’s parliament announced that fresh elections would take place on 27 March.
In a city vulnerable to oligarch control, can residents remove the local clan from power?
