Former Odessa mayor arrested over deadly floods

2025-10-31 22:14:06, Kosova & Bota CNA

A court in Kiev has imposed 60 days of house arrest on former Odessa mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov, accused of official negligence, weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship.

The Pechersk District Court in Kiev imposed this measure on October 31, accepting the prosecutor's request, as Trukhanov is suspected of mismanagement during the floods in Odessa, when several people died.

A former member of the Ukrainian Parliament and mayor of the Black Sea city since 2014, Trukhanov was notified a few days ago that he was suspected of improper performance of official duties.

Speaking via video link during the court hearing, Trukhanov called the accusation against him a "planned political distraction" and claimed he had done nothing wrong.

According to the investigation, the former mayor failed to ensure the proper functioning of the city's drainage system and to inform residents of the risk of an emergency on September 30, the day deadly floods hit the port city of Odessa.

"As a result of flooding in a part of the city, caused by the failure of the sewage system to absorb water from the streets, nine people died, including a 9-year-old child," the prosecutor's office said on October 29.

Trukhanov said the authorities' decision to treat him as a suspect was a "surprise" for him, although he admitted that the problem with Odessa's water drainage system was "catastrophic."

"Solving this problem requires billions in investment and support from the Government. The city alone can never manage to solve this problem," he added.

Immediately after the tragedy on September 30, Trukhanov stated that the city had received almost two months' worth of rainfall in seven hours.

"No sewage system can handle such a load," he wrote on Telegram.

Two weeks after the Odessa floods, Zelensky announced that he was revoking Trukhanov's Ukrainian citizenship, based on reports from the state's main security agency indicating that he held a Russian passport.

Trukhanov has promised to file a lawsuit in order to regain Ukrainian citizenship.

For a long time, Trukhanov has faced accusations that he holds Russian citizenship, which is illegal under Ukrainian law.

Earlier, some Odessa residents initiated a petition to strip him of his Ukrainian citizenship, claiming that he also paid taxes in Russia.

However, not everyone was convinced, arguing that Trukhanov had been elected fairly and that, with the war continuing against Russian forces, there are more pressing issues to address./ REL