Odesa Faces Turmoil: Drone Attack, Political Changes, and Waste Management Issues

Failure of the partnership with the Swedes

During a meeting of the Standing Committee on Housing and Communal Services of the Odesa City Council on February 3, it became known that the Swedish government had excluded Odesa from the cities selected as pilot territorial communities to participate in a Swedish government project to reform the national waste management system in line with European standards.

Photo: Intent/Natalia Dovbysh

The Swedes explained that the municipality failed to coordinate its actions to implement this program with the Odesa Regional Military Administration.

Subsequently, the Deputy Mayor of Odesa, Hanna Pozdnyakova, accused the Department of Ecology of the Odesa Military Administration of being excluded from the Swedish government's program to reform the national waste management system in accordance with European standards.

As a result, members of the city council appealed to the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Oleh Kiper, to exclude the region from the waste management program.

"We ask you to give an urgent order to the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Odesa Regional Military Administration to amend the draft regional waste management plan in Odesa region until 2030, taking into account the need to implement a cluster approach and modern European practices in this area. We call on you to initiate a constructive dialogue between the Odesa Regional State Administration, Odesa City Territorial Community, and international partners to develop an effective mechanism for implementing environmental policy in the region," the appeal says.

Missile attack with casualties

On the evening of February 5, Russian troops attacked Odesa region with an airborne missile. A man was killed in the attack. The air alert was announced in Odesa region at 17:48. Soon after, the Air Force reported the activity of Russian tactical aviation in the south and southeast, and warned of a possible threat of the use of air strikes. The alert lasted until 18:20, after which it was canceled.

Photo collage: Intent

On February 9, a funeral service will be held in Pivdenne, Odesa region, for Serhiy Maistrenko, a seaport worker who died on February 5 as a result of a missile attack by the Russian army on the city's civilian infrastructure.

Serhiy Maistrenko, born in 1985, worked as a mechanic at the Pivdennyi port. In addition, he was a participant in hostilities: from March 2022 to January 2023, he served as a driver of the engineering intelligence unit of the engineering support group of the 28th separate mechanized brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign, where he courageously fought to defend Ukraine.

Also, an unknown unmanned aerial vehicle violated the airspace of the Republic of Moldova at night on February 3 near the border with Odesa region. The unauthorized flight was detected and tracked by the airspace monitoring systems of the National Army of Moldova. The incident was recorded from 00:30 to 00:45 on the highway: Pavlivka, Ukraine - Karmanova Commune - Mayak - Grigoriopol.

Changes in deputies, money for the Armed Forces, and abandonment of the youth hub

The session of the Odesa City Council held on February 5 brought several interesting news items, for example, a well-known artist and deputy Oleg Filimonov, who was elected to the Odesa City Council from the Servant of the People party, decided to retire from politics. Other deputies approved his resignation.

Photo: Intent/Natalia Dovbysh

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. 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.

The deputies also supported changes to the city program "Safe City of Odesa," which provides for an additional increase in funds for the needs of the military. UAH 126 million was planned for defense this year, but after an additional vote, the defense budget increased by UAH 211 million, making a total of UAH 337 million to support the city's defense capability.

Instead, members of the Standing Committee on Planning, Budget and Finance decided not to allocate 40 million hryvnias for the repair of the building that will house the Youth Municipal Center. An hour earlier, the Commission on Education, Sports and Cooperation with Public Organizations, on the other hand, had approved the allocation of these 40 million hryvnias.

In general, it is planned that after the renovation, the premises will be able to host a youth hub for gifted youth, etc. NGOs will be able to apply on the relevant portal and use the premises. The municipality has four months to implement the grant, but the partners agreed that the deadline could be extended.

High-profile detentions: politician and terrorists

The Kyiv District Court of Odesa ruled to arrest Natalia Krupytsia, head of the Fontansky village council, and granted her bail in the amount of UAH 9 million 84 thousand.

Photo: Fontanska ATC

On February 3, Natalia Krupytsia was re-suspected Natalia Krupytsia was suspected in a case related to bank protection in the village of Kryzhanivka. The investigation began in 2013, when she was the head of the Kryzhanivka village council. Then, after the construction of a protective buna under her leadership, sea currents changed, and massive amounts of algae began to accumulate on the beaches of Kryzhanivka and the northern part of Odesa. This led to suspicions of misappropriation of more than UAH 2.7 million, which Krupytsia and the head of the contractor organization were accused of. However, in October 2023, the Prymorskyi Court of Odesa declared the evidence invalid and the defendants innocent.

Also, three citizens were detained on suspicion of committing a terrorist act near the Pavlohrad RTC and JV building. Two of them are residents of Odesa region.

The investigation revealed that one of the suspects, a resident of Pavlohrad, had made an improved explosive device on the instructions of Russian special services. The explosive was then taken by two Odesa residents, also recruited by Russian special services, and moved to the administrative building of the Pavlohrad RTC. There, they activated the explosives and recorded the attack on video to report to their handlers.

At the beginning of the week, the SBU military counterintelligence detained a man in Odesa suspected of spying on ships in the Black Sea. According to the available data, the occupiers planned to use this information to prepare combat operations in the maritime zone using cruise missiles and kamikaze drones. In order to direct enemy weapons to bypass Ukrainian air defense, the agent received an additional task: to identify the firing positions of anti-aircraft missile systems and mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces.

Police also detained an official of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Chornomorsk City Council in Odesa region. According to investigators, she demanded a kickback from an entrepreneur for issuing permits for retail food sales at the market. The official was served a notice of suspicion and a measure of restraint was chosen. She faces imprisonment, deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities, and confiscation of property.

The State Bureau of Investigation, in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine, detained a law enforcement officer in Odesa region who was making money by smuggling men of military age across the border.

The death of the vice president and the death of jellyfish

Valeriy Hait, vice president of the World Club of Odessans and one of the co-founders of the Odesa "Humorina", died on February 1. He had held the position of Vice-President of the WKO since 1990, and is also known for being the captain of the Odesa KVN team (from 1966 to 1971), as well as the head of the Odesa KVN championship teams in 1972 (Odesa team under the flag of the Institute of National Economy) and 1987 (the first team of gentlemen of OSU). Winner of the Golden Ostap Award (as editor of the Fontan) in the category "The Funniest Printed Edition" in 2006.

Photo: World Club of Odessans/Facebook

Environmentalists have also been monitoring the discharge of fuel oil on the Black Sea coast for three weeks. During a regular survey, they found a massive death of jellyfish of the aurelia eared species. On a two-kilometer stretch of coastline, they counted 2-3 jellyfish per meter of sand, and about 5,000 individuals in total. There were even more of them in shallow water areas, but it was not possible to count their number.

Odesa has also completed large-scale work to restore the chimney of the Pivdenna-2 boiler house, which was damaged during the bad weather in November 2023. The restoration of the structure was made possible with the financial support of UNICEF. The boiler house of the Odesa City Heating Company is now fully operational and provides heat to 120,000 residents, as well as educational and medical institutions in the district.