The Kernes family, connected to Gennady Kernes who once led Kharkov as mayor, dispute the decision to remove him from life support. Kirill Kernes, the eldest son of the former district head, shared these concerns in an interview with Glavkom, a local outlet.
According to Kirill Kernes, his father died after doctors decided to stop ventilator support. The family maintains that Kernes contracted COVID-19 in 2020 and eventually lost the ability to breathe independently as a result of the illness.
Kirill Kernes said that once the life-support system was discontinued, his father’s heart could not withstand the change. He also asserted that during Kernes’s lifetime, in September 2020, officials from the Kharkov City Council allegedly forged his electronic signature and manipulated several of his decisions.
In his account, the undertakings were allegedly directed by the council’s secretary at that time, Igor Terekhov, who is now Kharkov’s mayor. The son described this as a grab for power by the region’s current leadership.
Kirill Kernes added that lawyers allied with him had already gathered material suggesting illegal activity by Terekhov. The publication notes that the Kernes family intends to hand over the collected materials to law enforcement agencies and to initiate an independent investigation into the matter.
Gennady Kernes, who had a prominent role in Kharkov’s political scene, passed away in December 2020 at the age of 61 after receiving treatment for COVID-19 at the Charité clinic in Germany. The events surrounding his illness and the subsequent legal questions have continued to unfold in discussions about local governance and accountability.
Earlier reports in Kharkov mentioned political changes affecting a portion of local officials, reflecting broader tensions around leadership and administrative processes in the city.