Ukraine's police charges former Odesa Mayor Trukhanov over flood deaths

In addition to Trukhanov, two of his deputies, officials from Odesa City Council departments, as well as the director, chief and lead engineers of a structural unit of a municipal enterprise, were charged.

Police noted that heavy rains that hit the city on September 30 resulted in ten deaths, including a family with a child. Law enforcement says Odesa's drainage system was unprepared for the disaster.

Trukhanov and the other officials were charged with official negligence. They face up to eight years in prison.

Law enforcement also conducted more than 25 searches at administrative buildings and the residences of the suspects.

During these operations, police seized documents, computer equipment, mobile phones and handwritten notes.

Background

On September 29-30, massive rains hit Odesa, causing significant flooding. The disaster killed ten people, including an entire family of five.

In response, a petition appeared on the president's website calling for the creation of a military administration in Odesa, which quickly gathered the required 25,000 signatures.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also complained that "not everywhere is there effective local government" and warned: if local leaders "don't want or can't overcome critical problems on their own, there will be decisions from the central government regarding them." Though he did not name names.

Separately, on October 13, a petition appeared on the head of state's website calling for stripping Trukhanov of Ukrainian citizenship, which 25,000 people signed in less than a day. The next day, the SBU security service announced that the Odesa mayor had been stripped of Ukrainian citizenship because he is allegedly a Russian citizen.

After that, Zelenskyy established the Odesa City Military Administration and appointed Serhiy Lysak as its head, who previously led the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration.

Trukhanov himself denies ever having a Russian passport and plans to challenge the decision to revoke his Ukrainian citizenship in court.

Ihor Koval, secretary of the city council, became the acting mayor of Odesa.