Head of Odesa District Council comments on reports of guilt in pedestrian's death

Vitaliy Barvinenko, the head of Odesa District Council, responded to posts in Telegram channels that he had allegedly hit a pedestrian crossing the street and fled the scene.

As the politician stated in his Facebook post, the information is not true, and he called its authors "alternatively gifted."

"Some alternatively gifted citizens reported an accident involving me. First of all, I have been riding with a driver since I was 15 years old and do not drive a car, and secondly, I am in Kyiv for public events. Thirdly, if I have a desire to run over someone at a crosswalk, it is definitely not ordinary citizens," the politician wrote.

The posts accusing the politician of being involved in a traffic accident appeared online on May 30, and on May 31, it was reported that the politician was trying to avoid punishment.

Intent asked the police for a comment, and the Main Department of the National Police in Odesa Oblast assured that they had not registered any information about such an accident.

It is worth noting that the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine has now imposed a probationary period on the head of the Odesa District Administration under a plea agreement concluded between him and the prosecutor. Vitaliy Barvinenko was found guilty of illegally receiving UAH 613,000 in compensation for renting an apartment in the capital, i.e. committing a crime under Article 364(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In fact, the court sentenced him to three years in prison with a one-year disqualification from holding public office and a fine of UAH 17,000.

However, he was released from serving the main sentence with probation, setting a probationary period of 1 year.

Кирило Бойко