Terekhov was born on 14 January 1967 in
Kharkiv. In 1990, Terekhov graduated from the . Terekhov refereed 22
Ukrainian Premier League games from the
1992–93 season up until the
1994–95 season. In 2007 was appointed the Deputy Head of
Governor of Kharkiv Oblast Arsen Avakov. On 17 December 2020 Kernes died in
Berlin of
COVID-19. After the death of Kernes his duties were performed by City Council Secretary Terekhov.
Mayor of Kharkiv The Kharkiv City Council terminated the powers of Kernes on 24 December 2020 In this election Kernes Bloc — Successful Kharkiv nominated Terekhov as its mayoral candidate. The election commission declared Terekhov the winner of the election with 50.66% of the votes. Observers reported numerous irregularities in the election and tried to annul the results of 9 polling stations through court.
Russian invasion of Ukraine On October 5, 2022,
Taras Kremin, Ukraine's
Language Ombudsman, criticized Terekhov for speaking in
Russian on air, but did not impose a fine. On November 24, Terekhov again spoke in Russian while on air for a telethon, and Kremin in turn imposed a fine of 3,400
Hryvnias for not speaking in
Ukrainian. In response, Terekhov stated that "the most important matter is victory" in the war, and that he promised to "speak Ukrainian in official matters", but will continue to "speak Russian during communication with Kharkiv residents". He later made clear that he would pay the fine. in 2025. The text reads: "Proud to be a Kharkiv Resident!" On December 29,
Taras Kremin again imposed a fine on Terekhov, this time for using Russian in the mayor's social media pages. On January 12, 2023, Terekhov appealed the fine on administrative grounds, which was successful by a court decision in April. After this incident, the mayor's pages switched to using Ukrainian. In July 2023, Terekhov admitted that "the war has changed the mentality of both Kharkiv residents and Ukrainians", and that he now believes "it is necessary to speak Ukrainian". ==Personal life==