Oleh Filimonov Resigns from Odesa City Council Amid Support

Famous artist and deputy Oleh Filimonov, who was elected to the Odesa City Council from the Servant of the People party, decided to quit politics. Other deputies approved his resignation.

This became known during the first session of the Odesa City Council this year, on February 5.

Almost all the deputies supported the application for early resignation.

There were 38 votes in favor, 2 abstentions, 3 did not vote, and no one opposed.

Oleg Filimonov delivered a speech in which he expressed his gratitude to Mayor Gennady Trukhanov and his colleagues. The deputies supported him with applause.

"Dear colleagues, I sincerely thank you for your fruitful cooperation throughout the entire period I have been in this room," he said.

Oleh Filimonov was the oldest deputy in the city council, representing the Servant of the People faction and working in the commission dealing with culture, tourism and international cooperation.

For his creative work, he was awarded the title of Honored and People's Artist of Ukraine.

It is not yet known who will take Filimonov's place in the city council.

Oleg Filimonov was born in Mykolaiv to a historian and philologist. He graduated from Mechnikov Odesa National University, defended his dissertation and received a PhD in linguistics. For about 20 years he taught at the same university, where he headed the Department of Romance and Germanic Philology, but later retired from academia.

For Odesa residents, Filimonov is best known as an actor, comedian, and one of the creators of the legendary Gentleman Show, which grew out of the Odesa Gentlemen KVN team.

In 2020, he was elected to the Odesa City Council from the Servant of the People party as the first candidate on the list. In the same year, he ran for mayor of Odesa, but in the election he came in fourth place after Hennadii Trukhanov, Mykola Skoryk, and Petro Obukhov.

In May 2021, the artist's grandson Evan Gregor died suddenly. The boy was playing basketball with his friends on the playground. He suddenly fell and died. The paramedics tried to resuscitate him for 45 minutes, but failed. Filimonov's grandson was only 15 years old.

Ірина Глухова