Odesa Under Siege: Drone Attacks, Sabotage, and Education Reform

The past week has been characterized by several statements by US President Donald Trump that are very much in line with Russian propaganda. Meanwhile, the terror of the country of Odesa returned to Odesa. Read about this, the reaction of the Law Academy to the news of the merger, the plea of guilty by the head of the Odesa District Council, and the epidemiological situation in the Intent digest.

• On the night of February 14, Russian troops launched a drone attack, once again targeting the region's port facilities. As a result of the shelling, a recreation center and a car were damaged and rendered inoperable in Odesa district. No people were injured.
• On February 16, unmanned aerial vehicles that took part in the attack on Odesa region on the night of February 16 violated the airspace of Moldova.
• On February 19, massive Russian shelling of a residential area of Odesa caused large-scale disruptions in electricity and heat supply. 14 schools, 13 kindergartens and more than 500 residential buildings in a large neighborhood were left without electricity and heating.
• The next day, the enemy continued the energy terror. The strike caused fires in a catering establishment and a warehouse building, damaged an administrative building, a car wash, a roadway, and the glazing of a private house.

Sabotage and arson attacks

Photo: National Police in Odesa region

• On February 14, a 14-year-old boy recruited by Russian special services set fire to a military vehicle in Odesa. The boy was recruited online, promising him a monetary reward for committing the crime.
• On February 18, it became known that law enforcement officers detained five men in Odesa region who were suspected of organizing sabotage (arson). A 21-year-old resident of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi was recruited by enemy special services while looking for a part-time job on the Internet and involved four acquaintances aged 24 to 39 in criminal activities.
• February 20 An unknown explosive device damages three cars on Shevchenko Avenue in Odesa.

Kivalov strikes back.

Collage: Intent

• On February 15, it is reported that a conference of the staff of the Odesa National University "Odesa National Law Academy" decided to appeal to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to dismiss Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi.
• As a reminder, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to transfer the Odesa Law Academy to the Mechnikov National University. The Ministry of Education and Science explained that this was part of the modernization of education and assured that students would continue their studies without changes.
• People's Deputy Oleksiy Honcharenko commented on his Telegram channel: "Yurka is Kivalov. He is in charge of everything there. He created this Academy. Yurka's joining Mechnikov is a response to the photo with Zaluzhnyi."
• Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Oksen Lisovyi on Facebook: "The decision made at the government meeting is logical given the changes that the Ministry of Education and Science is implementing in higher education, revising the network of institutions. The reorganization will not negatively affect students and teachers; however, the situation is different for the management of the institution, including Serhiy Kivalov, who, in my opinion, never had the moral right to remain in education after the facts in his biography are known to everyone."

Barvinenko pleaded guilty to the crime

Photo: Intent/Natalia Dovbysh

• On February 20, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine approved a plea agreement between the prosecutor and former MP and now head of the Odesa District Council Vitaliy Barvinenko. According to the agreement, the former MP was found guilty of illegally receiving UAH 613 thousand in compensation for renting an apartment in the capital. The damages caused by the former MP's illegal actions were compensated in full.
• In his declaration for 2023, Vitaliy Barvinenko indicated a salary of UAH 674 thousand and a pension of UAH 171 thousand 705.
• Vitaliy Barvinenko and his wife Karina have savings of: 70 thousand dollars, 980 thousand hryvnias, and 5.2 thousand euros, all in cash.
• Vitaliy Barvinenko declared no real estate:
• Two land plots in the village of Marlakhivka, Kyiv district, with a total area of 2.8 thousand square meters.
• Apartments: in Kyiv (27.9 square meters), Odesa (54.4 and 43.6 square meters), Zatoka (38.7 square meters), Greece (53 square meters).
• Non-residential premises in Mariupol with an area of 50.7 square meters (owned since 2011).
• Two apartments in Odesa with an area of 63.1 and 48.8 square meters, which he received as a gift the year before last.

An epidemic or not yet?

• On February 17, it became known that the circle and 144 classes in other schools in Odesa were quarantined due to students contracting influenza and acute respiratory infections.
• An outbreak of measles was recorded in the Izmail district of Odesa region - the disease was confirmed in three children. They have been hospitalized.
• The topic of the epidemic situation was discussed live on Intent.Insight. Director of the Primary Health Care Center #3 in Odesa Olena Kolodenko said. Olena Kolodenko, director of the Primary Health Care Center #3 in Odesa, said that there is no peak in the incidence now.

Traveling through the catacombs from the comfort of your couch

Photo: Intent

• Employees of the Odesa Archaeological Museum and specialists of the NGO "Archaica" have partially digitized and will create a 3D model of a separate location of the catacombs located at 33 Rozumovska Street.

Ігор Льов