Leopard killing and third return of ex-military commander of Odesa region to prison: highlights of the week

Leopard hunting in the center of Odesa

A week ago, on Saturday, December 21, an event occurred in the Odesa Zoo that caused a lot of discussion and criticism of the Odesa Zoo from the public - a leopard was killed.

Photo collage: Intent

According to the zoo director Ihor Belyakov, the animal attacked a zoo employee when he entered the cage to clean it. It is not known what the employee neglected, but the animal saw the opportunity and attacked. The man survived, but was hospitalized, and the leopard jumped out and started running around the zoo. Despite the presence of tranquilizers in the zoo, they failed to put the animal to sleep. Firstly, the zoo doctor was unable to hit the fast-moving animal, and secondly, even if he had, according to Ihor Belyakov, it would not have guaranteed that the leopard would calm down. The fact is that the drugs available to the zoo workers do not work instantly. It takes them up to 10 minutes to put an animal like a leopard to sleep, and that's if the animal is calm. The Odesa predator, on the other hand, was so excited that the drug might not have worked at all.

The Privoz market is located next to the zoo, and the facility itself is located in a park where children play. It would not have been a problem for the leopard to overcome the zoo fence. So they decided to kill it for the safety of people.

The ex-military commander's journey from jail to jail

The former head of the Odesa Regional Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support, Yevhen Borysov, tried to get out of the pre-trial detention center on bail for the second time, but was not allowed to leave the detention center.

Photo: Suspilne

The fact is that law enforcement officers received information that the ex-soldier planned to evade the investigation, in particular by traveling abroad. Earlier, he organized the registration of a fictitious non-combat injury, allegedly related to the defense of Ukraine. As a result, he was illegally awarded additional remuneration in the amount of UAH 165,480 for three months of 2022. The detainee has now been notified of being suspected.

In May, Borysov already tried to leave the detention center, using a bail of UAH 12 million. However, the SBI served him with a new suspicion and detained him again.

In November, it became known that in the pre-trial detention center, Yevhen Borysov tried to obtain a disability group.

On July 22, 2023, the former Odesa military commissar was notified of suspicion on three articles - illegal enrichment, unauthorized leaving the place of service and evasion from service. These sanctions provide for up to 10 years in prison in case of conviction.

One million dollars for Odesa-based Udarovets for Kyiv land

Ukrainian special services reported the detention of the head of one of the regional branches of the Udar party on suspicion of extortion of $1 million from a private entrepreneur.

Photo: SBU

He promised the businessman to use his connections in the Kyiv City State Administration to resolve the issue of leasing a 16.4-hectare land plot on the Dnipro embankment. This territory was previously transferred by Kyiv City Council members to a park zone, which excludes the possibility of its lease or sale.

Law enforcement officers detained the suspect while he was handing over the first tranche of the bribe, which amounted to $900,000. The central executive committee of the UDAR party reported that it was the head of the party's branch in Odesa region, Oleksandr Sukhanov. The Kyiv City State Administration emphasized that the detainee has already been expelled from the party, and all those involved in the crimes must be held accountable.

Pre-election forecasts and assessment of Odesa City Council performance

Despite the martial law in Ukraine, there are signs that political forces are preparing for elections, which, according to the head of the Odesa regional organization of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, Anatoliy Boyko, are 99% likely to take place next year.

Photo collage: Intent

Anatoliy Boyko also predicted which parties might enter the new parliament, but noted that this forecast is not final. In his opinion, the party composition of the parliament should change. Most likely, it will include representatives of the current parliamentary associations - European Solidarity, Servant of the People with the current name or with rebranding, and Batkivshchyna. It is unlikely that any party will be able to form a mono-majority in the Rada. It is also possible that politicians from banned parties will unite to form some kind of blocs or political forces with neutral slogans.

Earlier, Anatoliy Boyko predicted that elections in Ukraine in 2025 are 99% likely and preparations have already begun, but a number of conditions must be met to hold them. His confidence in the possibility of holding elections next year has increased due to the revitalization of the voter register, in particular, the Central Election Commission has resumed the work of the register. In addition, political parties, according to the Odesa CVU, have been conducting preparatory processes for a year.

Meanwhile, experts of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, which operates on the basis of the Odesa regional organization of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, concluded that the state of provision of the population with protective facilities is generally satisfactory, but there is a tendency to strengthen the work of the city council in this direction. At the beginning of 2023, Odesa residents were provided with shelters by 30%, and as of the time of the study, they were already 80% provided. The most critical situation with shelters is in the densely populated Peresypskyi district, where local authorities plan to install modular protective structures in crowded areas.

The monitoring results show an insufficient level of security in the city's recreational areas, including beach areas. In 2024, for the first time since the full-scale invasion, the city had open beaches in a full-fledged format. However, an urgent problem for the safe operation of the beaches was access to shelters, most of which are problematic to use given the speed of ballistic weapons and the short time to get to a shelter.

Based on the results of the study, a map of recommendations for improving the level of security under martial law in the Odesa city community was developed and will be sent to the Odesa City Council for consideration.

Time for wolves in Odesa region

The population of wolves in the Odesa region has increased by 220% compared to 2023, foxes - by 50%, and a significant increase in the number of jackals has been recorded, which has tripled to more than 1,500 individuals.

Photo collage: Intent

This year, 112 cases of rabies in animals have been confirmed in Odesa region. An algorithm of actions and their sequence has been developed to start selectively diagnostic shooting of game animals for veterinary and sanitary examination in Odesa Oblast this year.

It is planned to involve representatives of the Main Directorate of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Odesa Oblast, the Environmental Inspectorate of the South-Western Region, and the Main Directorate of the National Police in activities related to the shooting and the upcoming annual winter census of the main game species.

Odesa region is also one of the five regions with the highest number of rabies cases among animals, and their number is growing every year. In the first 10 months of 2024, 109 laboratory-confirmed cases of rabies were registered in the region.