Father of the boy who disappeared on the beach in Chornomorsk goes on hunger strike

The father of the boy who disappeared on the beach in Chornomorsk, Odesa region, announced his intention to start a hunger strike near the local police station.

He announced this in a video message.

According to the father, the hunger strike will be a protest against the inaction of the police of Chornomorsk and Odesa region and local authorities - the boy, according to him, is being searched for only by divers of the State Emergency Service.

"The protest action will be directed against the alleged concealment of the facts of negligence of the city authorities and the municipal enterprise responsible for ensuring security on the beach and the alleged collusion between the police and the leadership of the city of Chornomorsk. I will start my hunger strike on August 16," he said.

The man also emphasized that he would consider any attempts to use the police or employees of the territorial centers of recruitment and social support to prevent the action as pressure on him and his family to conceal the facts of negligence.

Intent asked for comment from the head of the Chornomorsk City Council Vasyl Gulyaev and the Main Police Department in Odesa region, but they have not yet commented on the statement.

Meanwhile, according to the State Emergency Service, as of the morning of August 15, rescuers have searched 444,800 square meters of the seabed (including 47,000 using an underwater drone) and 455 kilometers of the coast in search of the boy. The search is ongoing.

On the morning of July 29, rescuers began searching for a young man who went missing during a storm from the central beach of Chornomorsk in Odesa Oblast. According to the rescuers, in the evening of July 28, they received a report that a boy born in 2009 had disappeared into the sea on the city's central beach. Due to the weather conditions - strong winds and large waves - it was impossible for the diving department to conduct search operations. Therefore, the search began in the morning.

Also on July 28, the police confirmed the information about the death of two people on the beach, and the mayor of Chornomorsk, Vasyl Gulyayev, said that on that day, rescuers pulled 50 people out of the water, including 10 children.

Кирило Бойко