Kernes Hennadiy Adolfovych

Notorious Kharkiv 'Gepa' — mayor with four criminal cases

From market trading and "cooperative" business in the 1990s — to deputy of Kharkiv City Council, council secretary (2006–2010), first deputy mayor (2010), and mayor of Kharkiv (2010–2020). Member of the Party of Regions, then the "Opposition Bloc," in 2020 won the mayoral election as an independent candidate with a record 62%. In 2014, organized pro-Russian rallies in Kharkiv; also participated in the kidnapping of Euromaidan activists together with Svoboda member Ilya Protsenko.

Four criminal cases, a bullet in the back, and last words "father — Kharkiv native"

Four criminal proceedings were initiated against Kernes: the kidnapping of Maidan activists (2014), hooliganism and vigilantism, abuse of power during metro construction, embezzlement of 47 million UAH from the city budget. None resulted in a verdict. On April 28, 2014 — assassination attempt: a sniper shot him in the back during a morning jog; Kernes survived but was left partially paralyzed permanently. After 2016 — a radical reorientation: he began funding the Armed Forces of Ukraine, studied the Ukrainian language, and in a deathbed interview called himself a "Kharkiv native, where there is no place for Russia." He died on December 17, 2020.