Head of the artistic and production department of a musical comedy theater dies in Odesa

Andriy Shyshkin, the head of the artistic and production department of the Vodianyi Odesa Academic Musical Comedy Theater, died suddenly on February 5.

This was reported by the theater's press service.

Since 1989, Andriy Valentynovych's life has been connected with the theater: first as a stagehand, then as a master of the machine-decoration shop, and since 2019 he has worked as the head of the production department.

He has also repeatedly designed posters for the theater's performances. An exhibition of his graphic works, which were made in the genre of political caricature, has been shown in the foyer of the theater and the halls of the World Club of Odessans since the first days of the war.

"It's hard to realize that in the morning a person is still solving work problems, communicating with colleagues, smiling and... suddenly everything that gave meaning to his life is over. Grief has happened...
But the memory will live on... May our dear colleague Andrii Shyshkin rest in peace and eternal memory. We express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Andriy Valentynovych," the theater emphasized.

Earlier, the editor of the Reniiskyi Visnyk newspaper from Reni, Odesa region, Petro Hadzhi-Ivan, died after a long illness. Petro Hadzhi-Ivan had been heading the newspaper since 2004 and was one of the co-owners of the private enterprise Media Reni. He was born in Moldova.

Also, Valeriy Tishchenko, the first head of the Criminalistics Department at the Odesa National University "Odesa Law Academy", died on January 25.

The head of the Kiliya district court in Odesa region died suddenly on January 24, around 5 am in the Kiliya multidisciplinary hospital. The 45-year-old judge sought help at the medical institution with complaints of feeling unwell, after which he lost consciousness. Despite the help provided, doctors were unable to save his life. Mykola Balan has been working in the Kiliya court since 2008. In 2015, he became the head of the institution, which he managed for five years. After that, Oleksandr Maslenikov was elected as the head of the court, but in 2023 Mykola Balan was re-elected again.

Bohdan Chufus, actor, singer, member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, announcer of Odesa TV, People's Artist of Ukraine, died on January 2, 2026.

In December, Valeriy Syrov, a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine and an honorary citizen of Bilyayivka, Odesa Oblast, died at the age of 76.

Кирило Бойко