Last year heads of local military administrations (hereinafter referred to as MA) of Kherson region have received average monthly salaries from 16 to almost 110 thousand UAH. The monthly average for their majority has been between 70 and 90 thousand UAH.
The Center for Journalist Investigations collected this information from public asset declarations published by the Register of e-declarations of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) and answers from local military administrations whose heads closed an access to their declarations.
Two heads of MAs – Tavrychanska MA and Khakhovka City MA – refused to provide information about their salaried paid by Ukrainian taxpayers. Bilozerka Village MA ignored our request.
Our previous material explained why some heads of local military administrations of Kherson region closed access to their asset declarations, without legitimate grounds. Now we look at their salaries and reasons some officials use to hide them from the public.
What are the salaries of heads of military administrations of Kherson region?
Ruslan Rusal, Head of Chulakivska Village MA of occupied Skadovsk raion, received the largest salary among 49 local heads of Kherson oblast. Its average reached almost 110 thousand UAH per month.
Ruslan Rusal, Head of Chulakivska MA. Photo from social media
Top-10 included:
- Svitlana Linnnyk, Head of Gola Prystan City MA of Skadovsk raion, with almost 97 thousand UAH
- Lubov Minko, Head of Mylivska Village MA of Beryslav raion (around 96 thousand UAH)
- Roman Mrochko, then-Head of Kherson City MA (almost 96 thousand UAH)
- Ihor Dudar, Head of Chornobaivka Village MA of Kherson MA (around 94 thousand UAH)
- Oleksandr Alchiev, Head of Beryslav City MA (around 93 thousand UAH),
- Oleksandr Babutsky, Head of Stanislav Village MA of Kherson raion (around 90 thousand UAH)
- Valerii Brusensky, then-Head of Nova Kakhovka City MA (almost 89 thousand UAH)
- Oleksandr Levechko, Head of Novooleksandrivka Village MA of Beryslav raion (around 88 thousand UAH)
- Igor Podgorodetsky, Head of Musykivka Village MA of Kherson raion (around 88 thousand UAH).
Eight heads of MAs of Kherson region received average salaries from 81 to almost 89 thousand UAH. Average salaries of nineteen heads of local MAs varied from 70 to 80 thousand UAH per month.
In 2024, the following heads of local MAs were paid the smallest salaries:
- Sergii Peretyatko, Head of Novotroitska Village MA of Genichesk raion (around 50,5 thousand UAH)
- Ludmyla Kostuk, Head of Kochubeivka Village MA of Beryslav raion (almost 50 thousand UAH)
- Mykola Yatsenko, Head of Tyagynka Village MA of Beryslav raion (almost 28 thousand UAH)
- Sergii Kukhta, Head of Skadovsk City MA (around 22 thousand UAH)
- Oleksii Batkalov, Head of Bekhterska Village MA (around 16 thousand UAH).
Oleksii Batkalov, Head of Bekhterska Village MA of Skadovsk raion (left), October 2025. Photo: Facebook/Децентралізаційний марафон
Salaries of last three heads have been the lowest among their colleagues. It is explained by the source of their income. As acting army officers, they were paid from the budget of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. In 2024, there were, at least, five heads of MAs as acting army officers, including Roman Mrochko, then-head of Kherson City MA.
Since May 12, 2025, heads of MAs from this group have received salaries from their military administrations. Valerii Melnychenko, Head of Vinogradivka Village MA of Kherson raion, referred to the order of the Cabinet of Ministries from May 9, 2025, which introduced this procedure.
As an access to his public asset declarations is closed, we know only about his current salaries (we submitted respective information request). In May-August 2025, he received 293,5 thousand UAH or average 73,4 thousand UAH per month.
We collected above mentioned information about salaries of heads of local MAs from their e-declarations published in the Register of public asset declarations of public officials maintained by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention and information requests to those military administrations whose head closed an access to their e-declarations.
Some public officials ignored our information requests. We submitted complaint to the Ombudsman of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Human Rights about violations of the Law of Ukraine (About Access to Public Information”.
Vasyl Donets, representative of the Ombudsman in Kherson region, informed us that he initiated investigation on the basis of our complaint, in accordance with the “Order on Procedure of Investigation by the Ombudsman of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Human Rights about Cases of Violations of Human Rights and Freedoms of Citizen”.
After this complaint, we received detailed answers with requested information from representatives of Stanislav and Chornobaivka Village MAs and refusal from Kakhovka City MA.
We did not receive any answer only from Bilozerka Village MA, headed by Ihor Ostrivny.
Heads of communities and raions of Kherson oblast, October 2023. Photo: Facebook/Олександр Прокудін
Tavrychanka and Kakhovka: salary as “the threat to the national security”
Tetyana Yuschenko, head of Tavrychanska Village MA of Kakhovka raion, interpreted our information request about her salary as the threat to the state sovereignty, territorial integrity, constitutional order and public order in Ukraine.
Her response has been among the first answers to our requests. It is confusing and long (six pages). She refused to provide information about her salary paid by Ukrainian taxpayers.
Her response may shock by description of violations of laws and customs of war, though we did focus on them at all. Inter alia, she wrote that representatives of military administration has “sisters, brothers, nephews, friends etc.” on temporary occupied territories of the Left Bank of Dnipro. They can be identified and tortured by Russian occupants.
“Tavrychanska Village MA concluded that disclosing requested information [about salary of head of administration] may disclose above mentioned persons residing on temporary occupied territory of Left Bank Kherson region; may cause serious harm – their detainment, interrogation, torture, death; may cause serious harm to public interests, namely – detainment, torturing and death of above mentioned citizens. That is why the harm to citizens of Ukraine, residing on temporary occupied territories, is significant. This harm caused by disclosing public information prevails over public interest itself”, as wrote Tetyana Yuschenko.
005Answer of Tetyana Yuschenko, Head of Tavrychanska Village MA
As she argues, public information on activity of governmental authorities and their employees under the conditions of Russian military aggression against Ukraine may threaten lives and health of citizens, residing on temporary occupied territories, “cause crimes and become threat to the national security”. That is why an access to public information should be restricted.
“These actions are directed only to preserve lives and health of people”, as thinks Tetyana Yuschenko.
Tetyana Yuschenko, Head of Tavrychanska MA, June 2025. Photo: Facebook/Центр допомоги херсонцям “Вільні разом”
After our complaint to the Ombudsman of Ukraine, Kakhovka City MA sent us similar refusal (it ignored our previous requests about public information). Other local military administrations of Kherson region have also followed the same line of arguments when they ignored our requests. Representatives of local governmental authorities called our journalists and told that they would not answer because information about salaries of Ukrainian public officials from temporary occupied territories of Kherson region was a state secret and its disclosure might threaten people.
“Close relatives of some employees of Kakhovka City Community have resided on temporary occupied territories of Kherson region (brothers, sisters, parents, children, nephews, and friends). They have their assets there. Disclosing personal data about income may cause heavy consequences: abduction, torturing, imprisonment or even death of these citizens. Thus, disclosing requested data creates direct threat to their lives, health and safety”, as stated in his response-refusal Vitalii Nemerets, head of Kakhovka City MA and elected mayor of Kakhovka,
He and Tetyana Yuschenko promised to provide information about their salaries in 2024 only after “de-occupation of Left Bank Kherson region or changes of circumstances”.
Vitalii Nemerets, Head of Kakhovka MA, May 2025. Photo: Kakhovka local community
“Public officials invented reasons to ignore requests”
In their responses, Vitalii Nemerets and Tetyana Yuschenko referred to the decisions of the European Court on Human Rights and the Law of Ukraine “About Prevention of Corruption”. The Law allows public officials to close an access to their public asset declarations under certain conditions. But almost two years ago the NACP clearly explained that availability of assets on occupied territories cannot be the reason to close an access to declarations.
It is remarkable that two members of the team of Vitalii Nemerets, his deputies Ivan Orekhov and Volodymyr Ragulin, did not close an access to their declarations. Anybody can find them online and receive information about their salaries. It makes reasons of Nemerets groundless.
More to that, the Ukrainian legislation does not stipulate any restrictions on access to public information under martial law, except of restrictions introduced before the Russian full scale invasion into Ukraine. The Law of Ukraine “About Access to Public Information” contains clear statement: “an access to the public information on spending budgetary resources cannot be restricted, including an access to copies of relevant documents, conditions for receiving these resources or assets, names of physical persons who received these resources or assets”.
008 (1)Answer to our request of Vitalii Nemerets, Head of Kakhovka City MA
The Law of Ukraine “About Information” also stipulates that “information about the use of public resources by recipients of resources of state and local budgets cannot be treated as the information with restricted access”. The Law of Ukraine “About Protection of Personal Data” stipulates the following: personal data of public officials and officials of local self-government bodies cannot be confidential. Heads of local military administrations and their subordinates fall within this group of officials.
Reference to the decision of the European Court on Human Rights seems to be groundless as this decision is related about illegal refusal to provide requested information.
On the other hand, the opinion of officials from Kakhovka and Tavrychanka is partially grounded when they mention the legislative right to restrict an access to public information. Article 6 of the Law of Ukraine “About Access to Public Information” says about three requirements (or so-called three-partite test). The first is when restriction is applied exclusively for the interests of the national security, territorial integrity or public order, in order to prevent criminal deeds and public riots; for the benefit of public health; in order to protect reputation or rights of other persons, to prevent disclosure of information received under conditions of confidentiality; or to support the authority and impartiality of justice.
The second requirement is when disclosure of public information may cause serious harm to above mentioned interests.
The third is when the harm, caused by disclosure of public information, may prevail over public interest to receive it.
The application of above mentioned norms might seem grounded if heads of local military administrations would physically reside on temporary occupied territories. Under these conditions, disclosure of information about their official position, salary or paid taxes might indeed cause serious harm to them from Russian occupants, as Tetyana Yuschenko from Tavrychanka Village MA put it. But we know that all heads of local MAs in Kherson region are residing on the territory under control of the Ukrainian government. So, this argument is not appropriate.
Online meeting of representatives of communities of Kherson region, October 2025, Photo: Kherson Oblast Military Administration
Our conclusions are supported by decisions of Ukrainian courts. During Russian full scale invasion into Ukraine, courts have repeatedly recognized that information about salaries of public officials “did not influence the protection of interests of the national and territorial integrity”. For example, Odesa District Administrative Court explained in its decision from December 14, 2022, that such information was related only to concrete public official who receives the salary from the state budget of Ukraine. The decision of Chernihiv District Administrative Court from December 19, 2022 upheld this position. It considered the lawsuit submitted about non-disclosure of information on salaries of public officials of Sosnytska Village Council in Chernihiv oblast. These officials justified their refusal by a threat this information would be used by the enemy. The Court recognized their refusal as unlawful. There are dozens of similar court decisions.
According to Oksana Maksymenuk, the lawyer and head of legal unit of the Institute for the Development of Regional Press, heads of Kakhovka and Tavrychanka MAs “invented” the reason to restrict an access to information about their salaries.
“All their explanations about refusal do not meet norms of the Ukrainian legislation and are groundless. Under the martial law, an access to public information can be restricted only in exclusive cases and only after application of tri-partite test. Responses of public officials demonstrate that they heard something about it and tried to apply it. But they applied it incorrectly and did not explain why the harm from disclosure of their salaries would prevail over public interest. It is clear that public interest prevails here as they are all public officials. Information about their salaries does not influence the national security and safety of their relatives residing on temporary occupied territory”, as explained Oksana Maksymenuk.
She believes that requirement of some heads of local MAs in Kherson region not to disclose information about their salaries is also groundless, though they provided this information in their responses to our requests.
However, the majority of public officials did provide information we requested. Some officials started publishing information on their salaries on official websites of their administrations, as Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration and his deputies did.
Some other officials in their responses directly stated they did not have any reasons to hide information about their salaries. As Ivan Dudar, Head of Askania-Nova Village MA of Kakhovka raion wrote, “bodies of local self-government, their public officials are obliged to act only within powers and in a way, stipulated by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine”.
Unfortunately, not all Ukrainian officials are aware about this thesis.
P.S. After publication of this material, representatives of Bilozerka Village MA contacted us and informed that they sent their response on time. It turned out that they indicated wrong address and we did not receive it. They re-sent the response. Average salary of Ihor Ostrivny in 2024 reached 85 310 UH per month and 1 023 715 UAH per year. So, he would occupy the 14th place in our rating, between Mykola Rizak and Tetyana Gasanenko.
This material was written within project of IWPR “Strengthening Civic Control” under financial assistance of Norway.
