Odesa associate professor gets lost in the Carpathians

Rescuers of the State Emergency Service are searching for Oleksiy Khodakov, an associate professor at Odesa National Technological University, who disappeared while hiking in the mountains in Zakarpattia region.

This was reported by the local group Mizhhirya Zakarpattya.

It is known that the associate professor's phone was last recorded in Khust district, he had a deferment from mobilization and was not wanted.

The scientist arrived on February 14 and started his hike from Dragobrat. He was well equipped. In addition, the route is popular and considered safe. Oleksiy Khodakov also has many years of experience in mountain travel.

His phone was later found in the village of Berezovo, which is located off the route. He last accessed the Internet on the evening of February 17, after which his whereabouts are unknown. A missing persons report was filed with the police. Rescuers of the State Emergency Service have made 11 search operations so far, but in vain.

This is not the first time that tourists from Odesa have gotten lost in the Carpathians in winter. In January 2022, a tourist from Odesa was also searched for near Mount Dragobrat in Zakarpattia. He was snowboarding, but later just disappeared. The missing man was quickly found and was unharmed.

In the same year, and also in January, the Rescue Service received a report that four tourists had gotten lost in the area of Mount Petros: three men and a woman, all from Odesa. The tourists went on the hike despite the fact that the rescuers had urged them to abandon the trip due to bad weather conditions during registration. At the same time, the tourists managed to climb Petros, but when they went down, they lost their way due to poor visibility and heavy rainfall and got lost.

In December 2021, three men went missing while snowmobiling. Two reached a recreation center, and the third, from Odesa, was later found dead. The rescuers then used a helicopter to search for them.

Кирило Бойко