Khabarovsk to choose mayor from governor’s nominees

Khabarovsk will choose its mayor from the governor’s nominees

Direct mayoral elections have been abolished in Russia’s Khabarovsk; the city Duma will choose the mayor from candidates put forward by the regional governor. The number of regional capitals retaining direct elections has fallen to two: Abakan and Anadyr.

Scraper SystemOctober 21, 2026, 02:17 PM

Khabarovsk will choose its mayor from the governor’s nominees

The method of selecting Khabarovsk’s mayor has changed. The city Duma will henceforth choose the mayor from candidates put forward by the regional governor, bringing direct mayoral elections in the city to an end.

The Khabarovsk Regional Assembly said the new regulation complies with federal law. Under the system outlined by the assembly, the regional governor will nominate the candidates, while the city Duma will make the final decision.

Change approved after Kravchuk’s departure

The decision was taken several weeks after Khabarovsk Mayor Sergey Kravchuk left office. Kravchuk resigned as mayor after winning a seat in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly, in parliamentary elections held last month.

Khabarovsk city hall (archive)

Direct elections continue only in Abakan and Anadyr

Khabarovsk has become the latest city in Russia to abolish the direct election of mayors. Direct elections have been abolished in many regional capitals since the late 2000s as part of a nationwide policy aimed at increasing the Kremlin’s control over local governments.

The practice has led to protests in some cities. A local government reform adopted by Russia’s State Duma in 2024 also gave regional legislative bodies the option to abolish mayoral elections with the aim of creating a unified system of public authority.

The reform allows smaller municipalities to retain direct elections. Abakan, the capital of the Republic of Khakassia in Siberia, and Anadyr, the capital of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in Russia’s Far East, remain the only two regional capitals where mayors are still elected directly.

Khabarovsk will choose its mayor from the governor’s nominees