The head of Dnipropetrovsk Region's territorial defence, Hennadiy Korban, has been denied entry into Ukraine after his passport was confiscated. His document was declared invalid and the act stated that he was a "stateless person".
Around 4.30 p.m. Korban commented publicly on the situation for the first time. He wrote on Facebook that he was trying to enter Ukraine through the Smilnytsya border crossing point (Polish border).
"I still think it's some kind of misunderstanding or a prank. They confiscated my passport of a citizen of the state and issued a certificate. They will not let me go home to Ukraine," he said.
The act states that the passport is invalid on the basis of the order of the main directorate of the State Customs Service in Dnipropetrovsk Region dated 20 July.
Korban appealed to the president of Ukraine as the guarantor of the constitution.
"Is there any way to solve this misunderstanding that happened to me on the doorstep of our common home?" he said.
On 11 July, Korban said on Facebook that he was leaving Ukraine for a seven-day "leave" in another state to meet his seven-year-old son. Korban can leave legally thanks to having three minor children.
A few days ago, some media quoted anonymous sources as saying that the president might soon sign a decree stripping the former Dnipropetrovsk Region head, businessman Ihor Kolomoyskyy, co-chairman of the banned Opposition Platform-For Life party, Vadym Rabinovych, and the current head of Dnipropetrovsk's territorial defence, Korban, of his citizenship. No official confirmation has been given, but some sources, including Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser to the head of the presidential office, circulated a photo of a document dated 18 July about the stripping of citizenship of a number of individuals.
"President Zelenskyy has stripped oligarch Kolomoyskyy of his citizenship. A copy of this decree was published by MP Vlasenko. Probably, he took it from the Central Electoral Commission, where a copy of the decree sent for enforcement to prepare decisions on stripping Rabinovych and Vasylkovskyy of their MPs' powers," he said.
According to the law on citizenship of Ukraine, citizenship of Ukrainians can be terminated (not deprived of) in a number of cases, including if a Ukrainian, after maturing, received a passport of another state. At the same time, the constitution states that a citizen of Ukraine cannot be deprived of citizenship. Thus, there is a conflict regarding the difference between deprivation and termination of citizenship.