Ihor Kolykhaiev

Ihor Viktorovych Kolykhaiev (; born 8 May 1971) is a Ukrainian politician who has served as mayor of Kherson since the 2020 Ukrainian local elections.

On 28 June 2022, Kolykhaiev was abducted by Russian agents amidst the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the occupation of Kherson. Kolykhaiev has two children.

In 2006, Yurii Bokalo established the futsal club, MFC Prodexim Kherson, named after Ihor Kolykhaev's enterprise ”Prodexim.”

In 2016, Kolykhaiev founded Ihor Kolykhaev's Charity Fund which is aimed at charity help to sportsmen and Kherson citizens.

Political career In October 2015, Ihor Kolykhaiev stood for becoming a deputy at Kherson Oblast Council in accordance with the lists of political party Petro Poroshenko Bloc. Having received 25.2% votes at the electoral ward, he was elected in the 2015 Ukrainian local elections a deputy of Kherson Oblast Council of the 7th convocation and in December 2015, he took the oath. On 21 July 2019, he was elected in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election the people's deputy of Ukraine of the 9th convocation at 184 first past the post election constituency. At the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's national parliament) of the 9th convocation Faction a Deputy Group member "For the Future". at the Verkhovna Rada of the 9th convocation.

Kolykhaiev was elected mayor of Kherson in the 2020 Ukrainian local elections. A party founded by him called "We Have to Live Here" won 13 of the 54 seats in the Kherson City Council in the same election.

On 24 February 2022, the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces from Crimea began advancing in the direction of Kherson. Parts of the city were damaged, and Kolykhaiev allowed volunteers to dig mass graves due to heavy civilian casualties. On March 2, Kherson became the first major Ukrainian city to fall. Kolykhaiev reported 10 Russian officers including their commander, came into the city's administration. After some discussion, they came to an agreement on rules the city would have to follow while under Russian occupation. Kolykhaiev pushed for his own demands of the Russian officers during the meeting, which included the Ukrainian flag flying over the administration building, tanks not being allowed into the city, and humanitarian aid / evacuations. He later told The New York Times that the Russian officers had informed him of their plans to set up a military administration. The occupational administration installed a puppet government of Kherson, replacing him with Oleksandr Kobets, on 27 April 2022. On 28 June, Kolykhaiev was abducted by Russian agents. His whereabouts then became unknown.

On 21 September 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Halyna Luhova as Head of the Kherson City Military Administration. Luhova then started to performs the functions of mayor.

Captivity After no word since his abduction on 28 June 2022, an update came on 13 September 2023, the Red Cross told Kolykhaiev's son that his father's been added to the Russian list of prisoners and was officially a prisoner of war, and was in Russia. On 2 December 2024, it was reported by the Public Interest Journalism Lab that Kolykhaiev was being held in a secret torture facility operated by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in Simferopol, Crimea. Sviatoslav was confidently able to say Kolykhaiev was in Taganrog for over a year before being moved to deep inside Russia to possibly a pre-trial detention center in February 2025.

Awards Medal of Merit of Ukraine's Football Federation.