Odesa Court Convicts Galimov and Pavlov for Drug Sales, Clears

The Illichivsk City Court of Odesa Oblast convicted Oleksandr Galimov and Volodymyr Pavlov of drug trafficking, but found them not guilty of spreading criminal influence in the city.

This was reported by the Court Reporter publication with reference to the verdict of April 16.

In 2022, the Criminal Investigation Department of Odesa Oblast allegedly received operational information that the criminal environment in the city of Chornomorsk had changed its "overseer" and was raising funds to maintain the criminal environment and thieves' cash desks. According to law enforcement, the new supervisor was Oleksandr Galimov, the son of the late Serhii Galimov, who was deputy mayor of Chornomorsk (formerly known as Illichivsk) for 20 years and died in 2021.

His accomplice was Pavlov, who was repeatedly prosecuted. In April 2023, Galimov, Pavlov, and another of their accomplices were detained. The main prosecution witness is Galimov's former classmate. At the meeting, Galimov allegedly called him a "lookout" and Pavlov a "poshie". They allegedly demanded that he collect a parcel for the prison: 30 kilograms of tea and cigarettes. He had to collect the parcel to be accepted into the gang. At the next meeting, they quarreled and fought because the witness had been collecting the parcel for a long time. After the man was told to collect the parcel, he went to the police and continued to attend meetings with special equipment. The police gave the witness marked money to buy cannabis and weapons from the defendants. In 2023, with his participation, law enforcement officers conducted an operational purchase of cannabis and two guns from Galimov.

According to the case file, Galimov offered his former classmate to provide him with drugs on a long-term basis for further sale to other persons, having previously agreed on the purchase price. During the covert investigative actions, Galimov was recorded speaking about the spoiled youth who do not believe "in a normal, black, thieving life," and they intend to build everything to be normal and right.

In 2023, the defendants also recruited another man to sell drugs, keeping a portion of the profits for themselves. From 1994 to 2000, this man worked in law enforcement in Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv region, then in a penitentiary institution, and had a contract with a military unit. Since 2015, he has been buying marijuana for himself. In court, he testified that Galimov told him that he was appointed "the city's watchdog" and offered to sell marijuana, promising protection from criminals. Initially, this man was a defendant, like Galimov and Pavlov, but in 2024 he made a deal with the prosecutor, pleading guilty. Before the court hearing, the pre-trial detention center tried to give him a cell phone, advised him not to say anything, "say hello," and tried to influence him to testify. He was sentenced to four years and six months in prison for drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty. They denied any connection with the criminal world.

Кирило Бойко