Jan. 18, 2025, 7:33 p.m.
(Photo collage: Intent)
The past week was eventful for the residents of Odesa region, as it was marked by the detention of a terrorist who manufactured bombs, the detention of a Russian agent who disguised himself as a woman, the liquidation of medical and social expert commissions, and the shelling that affected Romania.
Elimination of MSECs and what to replace them with
A woman, bombs and an agent in disguise
Detentions at customs and the prosecutor's office
Dozens and with shooting: border violators detained in Odesa region
Drones in Odesa region and Romania
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The corruption scandal with the medical and social expert commissions that led to the dismissal of Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin also led to the reform of these commissions.
Director of the regional health department Oksana Rokunets-Sorochan. Photo from the briefing at the OVA.
Instead, expert teams of doctors were created to perform the same functions. There will be 51 such teams in Odesa region. Cases submitted by citizens before the liquidation of the MSEC were automatically transferred to the new teams.
If a patient does not agree with the conclusion, his or her case will be transferred to another team, even from another locality. The department reported that 1745 pending cases from the liquidated MSEC have already been transferred to electronic format and distributed among the new teams. About 42 cases are processed daily. So far, 590 patients have been examined, and 435 of them have already received disability groups.
Earlier, Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional Medical Center, commented on the situation with the MSEC and VLC nurse who was found to have property worth millions of hryvnias in the city center. The head of the Odesa Regional Center for Medical and Social Expertise also resigned.
The Security Service of Ukraine reported last week that two agents of the Russian Federation had been detained, one of whom appeared to be preparing a terrorist attack.
Photo collage: Intent
In particular, according to the special service, she was preparing a simultaneous explosion of the administrative building of a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a car parked nearby. During the detention, the Russians remotely activated one of the bombs. There were no preliminary casualties. It happened in the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.
According to the case file, the perpetrator of the terrorist attack was a 21-year-old resident of the frontline city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region, who was remotely recruited by two representatives of Russian special services. On their instructions, the agent arrived in Odesa region and rented an apartment there, where she then made the explosives herself.
The second detainee was a man who, in order to avoid suspicion, dressed in women's clothes and covertly collected data, which he passed on to his supervisor in the form of text messages, photos, and marks on electronic cards. During the search, law enforcement officers seized a cell phone with evidence of his activities.
If the man's guilt is proven, he faces a sentence of imprisonment for a term of ten to twelve years with or without confiscation of property.
The SBU claims that the 26-year-old resident of Izmail deliberately decided to help the enemy by contacting a representative of the Russian special service via messenger.
The Security Service of Ukraine detained the acting deputy head of the customs clearance department of one of the Odesa customs posts on suspicion of organizing a corruption scheme during customs control.
Photo collage: Intent
SBU officers found that the customs official systematically demanded bribes from legal entities and individuals to speed up the customs clearance of goods and not create artificial obstacles.
In exchange for various amounts of bribes, he guaranteed fast customs clearance of goods without mandatory forms of customs control. If the clients refused to pay, the clearance was delayed or denied altogether.
Maksym Rakovych, the deputy head of the Odesa regional prosecutor's office, also became a defendant in a criminal case. In addition, his ex-wife and current cohabitant Valentyna Rakovych became a defendant in the proceedings.
According to the newspaper, the case concerns assets worth more than UAH 52 million, which were probably acquired illegally. The investigation was initiated by the Brotherhood of Defenders NGO, which filed a complaint with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO). Initially, the prosecutor's office refused to open an investigation, but the court upheld the activists' position and ordered the opening of criminal proceedings.
Soldiers of the Podilsky detachment of the Odesa region stopped a car filled with men of military age near the state border, whose driver was trying to illegally cross the Transnistrian segment of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.
Residents of Lviv, Dnipropetrovs'k, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa regions turned to the organizer, an administrator of a telegram channel, to implement their illegal intentions.
The latter collaborated with an accomplice, a driver who was supposed to transport all the passengers and stay in neighboring Moldova. To help with online navigation, the organizer asked each person to pay from 7 to 10 thousand US dollars to a crypto wallet.
Border guards also detained three men from Kyiv wearing camouflage uniforms who were trying to illegally cross the border. According to the State Border Guard Service, the pseudo-military men's movement was tracked by a drone with a thermal imager near the Transnistrian segment of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.
The violators were wearing tactical equipment: camouflage, tactical gloves and boots. As it became known, on the advice of the organizer of the illegal crossing, they purchased these clothes to remain invisible. Despite numerous requests from border guards to stop, the men tried to escape. Only after warning shots were fired in the air were they detained.
Judge Lyudmyla Saltan of the Kyiv District Court of Odesa, who was removed from the bench for allegedly demanding a bribe, tried to avoid responsibility by mobilizing into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, the military unit has already complained about the judge, as the woman appeared there drunk.
Photo collage: Intent
In March 2023, Liudmyla Saltan offered one of the parties to a civil case to give her an undue benefit of USD 4,000, and in return promised to make the necessary decision. According to the decision, the defendant had to pay the plaintiff USD 14.2 thousand and UAH 15 thousand.
Meanwhile, judge Valentyn Zaveriukha of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court of Odesa Oblast was temporarily suspended from administering justice based on a decision of the First Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice. The decision to bring the judge to disciplinary responsibility and impose a disciplinary sanction in the form of a motion for dismissal was made by the First Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice on January 13, 2025.
Earlier, the High Council of Justice considered a motion filed by Valentyn Zaveriukha, a judge of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court of Odesa Oblast. He asked to suspend the disciplinary case against him, citing his mobilization to the Armed Forces. The HCJ ruled that the judge could participate in the hearing of his case remotely.
In January 2024, the SBU, together with the NABU, detained a judge of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Court of Odesa Oblast. According to the investigation, the judge took bribes of $3,500 to make decisions that allowed men of conscription age to avoid mobilization and go abroad.
On January 17, Russian invaders attacked Izmail district of Odesa region with camikaze drones. The shelling damaged the facades of buildings and one residential building. Emergency and rescue services, as well as law enforcement officers, are currently working at the scene of the incident to document the consequences of another terrorist strike by the Russians.
Photo: Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office
Odesa region has twice declared an air alert due to the threat of attack drones. The first alert lasted from 21:21 to 23:31 on January 16, and the second began at 00:21 on January 17.
The military warned first about a group of kamikaze drones moving from the Black Sea towards the region, and later about drones heading towards Izmail. The air alert was canceled at 03:17.
After the shelling in Tulcea County, Romania, near the border with Ukraine, traces of a possible Russian drone strike were recorded. These drones were used by Russia during the nighttime shelling of Odesa region. In addition, Romania reported that two F-16 fighter jetswere used during the night attack on Odesa region. Residents of the Tulcea border county were also warned of a possible threat.
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