The mayor, Vitali Klitschko, who has had a tense relationship with President Volodymyr Zelensky, accused him of trying to usurp the powers of elected officials in the capital.
Internal political tensions in Ukraine have been rising in anticipation of a cease-fire that might lead to elections. This week, they burst into the open with a striking public rebuke of President Volodymyr Zelensky by the mayor of Kyiv.
In a video address issued on Wednesday, the mayor of the country’s capital, Vitali Klitschko, accused the president’s office of abusing the powers of martial law, the latest salvo in a continuing dispute over the use of military rule during the nearly three-year war against Russia.
Mr. Klitschko, a former heavyweight boxing champion who has built a political base in the capital, has engaged in a low-boil feud with Mr. Zelensky for several years, chafing at what he views as the president’s attempt to usurp the authority of the city.
In his statement, Mr. Klitschko accused Mr. Zelensky of appointing a military administrator for the city who he said had tried to assume the powers of the elected City Council.
The administrator, Tymur Tkachenko, was appointed as the martial law chief of Kyiv on Dec. 31. He was part of a round of appointments in regions and cities across Ukraine that began in 2022 and were intended to bolster defenses by giving authority to officers in the military chain of command over local governments.
Mr. Klitschko said Mr. Tkachenko had no military background, which he said “indicates political motives for this appointment.” He accused Mr. Tkachenko of “interference in and blocking of economic activity” in the capital by delaying decisions on infrastructure and construction unrelated to the war.