Businessman Pavlo Fuks announced the death of Kharkiv Mayor Hennadiy Kernes, who was being treated at the Charité clinic in Berlin.

"Tonight the big kind heart of my best friend Hennadiy Kernes stopped [...]. Eternal memory to you, my friend," Fuks wrote in his Telegram channel on Thursday morning.

According to him, the consequences of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection "gave serious complications to the body's vital functions."

Secretary of Kharkiv City Council Ihor Terekhov confirmed the information about Kernes death and said that time and place of funeral of the mayor of Kharkiv had not yet been decided. "I will not say now anything about the day of the funeral, nor about the place, we will resolve this issue in the next few hours," he wrote on his Facebook page.

"For now, I can say the only thing that I, as his friend, and his entire team, together we will continue the work of Hennadiy Adolfovych. He laid a solid foundation for the revival of the city, and he himself planned to devote a lot of time and effort to this noble goal. But, to our common unfortunately, life decided otherwise," Terekhov said.

As reported, Kernes has not appeared in public since late August. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 and bilateral pneumonia. On September 10, he was admitted to the 17th city hospital.

On September 15, director of the department for information and public relations of Kharkiv City Council Yuriy Sydorenko said that Kernes's condition was consistently grave.

On the night of September 17, Kernes was transported by a specialized plane from Kharkiv to Berlin for treatment at the Charité clinic.

On September 23, the Kernes Bloc – Successful Kharkiv nominated Kernes as a candidate for the post of mayor.

On October 2, businessman and friend of Kernes Pavlo Fuks said that Kernes had tested negative for COVID-19.

On November 3, Yuriy Sydorenko denied information about Kernes death spread by anonymous Telegram channels.

On November 5, First Deputy Mayor of Kharkiv Ihor Terekhov said that Kernes would return to the city by December 20 and personally hold a session of the new city council.

On December 7, Fuks said that the mayor plans to return to Kharkiv on December 30.

On December 11, Sydorenko said that Kernes condition had deteriorated sharply, both kidneys had failed.

Kernes was elected the mayor of Kharkiv in 2010. Prior to that, since 2002, he was the secretary of Kharkiv City Council.

On April 28, 2014, an attempt was made on Kernes, after which he was forced to move in a wheelchair.

On November 4, 2020, Kharkiv City Territorial Election Commission for the second time recognized Kernes as the elected mayor. He received the largest number of votes of 60.34%.