Lutsk City Council Appoints New Secretary: Who is Kateryna Shkloda?

Lutsk City Council Selects New Secretary

According to Главком: During a session on March 25, the Lutsk City Council appointed a new municipal secretary. The position was filled by council member Kateryna Shkloda. The vote was conducted by secret ballot, with Shkloda being the sole candidate for the role. The same session also saw decisions made to terminate the authority of Mayor Ihor Polishchuk and the previous council secretary, Yuriy Bezpyatko, ahead of schedule.

Background and Career of Kateryna Shkloda

Kateryna Shkloda was born in Kostanay, Republic of Kazakhstan. She completed her secondary education at Lutsk Gymnasium No. 21, named after Mykhailo Kravchuk, and pursued higher education at the Lutsk National Technical University. There, she graduated with honors, having studied 'Ecology and Environmental Protection' and 'Finance'. Shkloda has served as a deputy on the Lutsk City Council since 2020, representing the political party 'For the Future'.

Between 2017 and 2019, she held the positions of head and deputy director of the Department of Family, Youth, and Sports for the Lutsk City Council. In October 2025, Shkloda became the representative of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights in the Volyn region. She filed her annual asset declaration for 2025 on March 9. The declaration lists two apartments: one held in joint ownership with her parents and another owned solely by Shkloda. Her own apartment has a total area of 58.7 m² and was purchased in 2021 for 300,000 UAH. The declaration also states she owns a 2015 MAZDA vehicle, purchased in 2025 for 254,400 UAH.

At the council session, deputies supported the motions to end the terms of Lutsk Mayor Ihor Polishchuk and Secretary Yuriy Bezpyatko prematurely. The vote to remove Mayor Polishchuk received support from 38 deputies, while 36 voted to dismiss Secretary Bezpyatko. Draft resolutions for their early dismissal had been published on the Lutsk City Council's official website on March 23. These leadership changes follow a period of scrutiny; on December 19, 2025, detectives from Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau conducted searches at the Lutsk City Council, a fact confirmed by the deputy head of the council's information department, Oleksandr Olyshevskyi.

The change in leadership at the Lutsk City Council may signal ongoing political and administrative shifts in the region. The election of Kateryna Shkloda as secretary underscores the continued influence of the 'For the Future' party, which she represents.

These developments could impact political stability in Lutsk and the broader regional situation. The appointment comes amid a wider context of political realignment and anti-corruption efforts in Ukrainian local governance.

The recent appointment of Kateryna Shkloda as the new municipal secretary follows significant changes within the Lutsk City Council, including the early termination of both the mayor and the previous secretary. These developments are closely tied to ongoing investigations, such as those conducted by NABU. To understand the broader implications of these shifts in leadership, read more about the council's decisions in our detailed report.