Former MP heads occupation school in Kherson region

The occupiers have appointed a former deputy of the Kakhovka City Council, Oleksandr Makarov, as the director of the occupation school in the village of Tavrychanka in Kherson region. Previously, he headed Kakhovka School No. 3, but was fired for alcohol abuse in the workplace.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism.

The invaders dismissed 58-year-old Natalia Galchenko from the post of director of the occupation school in the village of Tavrychanka, Kakhovka district, Kherson region. Instead, 59-year-old Oleksandr Makarov, a former director of Kakhovka school No. 3, a member of the city council of two previous convocations and a longtime ally of the occupier Pavlo Filipchuk, was appointed to run the school.

According to media reports, Makarov has been heading the Tavrychanska school since October 10, 2025. He lives in Kakhovka, and previously, from 2005 to 2020, he headed Kakhovka School No. 3. There he taught geography and led a travel club. He was fired because of alcohol abuse in the workplace and numerous complaints about inappropriate behavior with students.

After his dismissal, Makarov was unemployed for a long time and worked as a loader at the local market. During the occupation, he got a job at a school in Tavrychanka, where he had already participated in propaganda activities: according to occupation telegram channels, the school received Russian literature and stationery from a youth center in Krasnodar Krai.

Previously, the school in Tavrychanka was headed by Natalia Galchenko, who until December 2021 headed the Askania State Agricultural Research Station of the Institute of Irrigated Agriculture of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine. The institution was established by the occupiers on March 9, 2023, and is subordinated to the so-called administrative center of the occupiers, which covers several communities in the Kakhovka district.

Also in August, a deputy of the Kherson City Council, Kostiantyn Syvak, was notified of being suspected of treason. According to the investigation, he handed over boats and boats of the state inspection worth more than UAH 4 million to the Russian occupiers, contributing to subversive activities against Ukraine.

Анна Бальчінос