Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov, a suspect in several corruption cases, was released without bail by Solomiansky District Court on Feb. 15.
The court decision followed Trukhanov’s arrest at Kyiv’s Boryspil airport on Feb. 14. He was transferred to the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine and charged with embezzling funds from projects to repair a highway and refurbish Odesa airport.
Lawmaker Dmytro Holubov of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc vouched for Trukhanov. Holubov, the leader of the Internet Party of Ukraine, whose members are named after Star Wars characters, has been accused of creating the party to steal votes from opposition candidates. He has also been investigated over alleged cybercrime by the authorities of Ukraine, the United States and other countries.
In 2017, the NABU began to investigate the circumstances surrounding tenders for work at Odesa Airport and highway repairs, which were won by companies reportedly associated with the mayor. According to NABU, the city has lost more than Hr 100 million as a result of the embezzlement.
Activists protesting against Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov clash with the police in front of Kyiv’s Solomiansky District Court on Feb. 15.
Trukhanov hadn’t been seen in Odesa for more than a month-and-a-half – he left on a business trip to Turkey on Dec. 19, Trukhanov said in court, and has been on vacation since Dec. 27. He flew to Kyiv from Warsaw after being on business trips to Davos, Switzerland and Athens, Greece.
Prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office said in court that Trukhanov has been changing his whereabouts to avoid being issued a notice of suspicion. They also claimed to have evidence that Trukhanov said in a phone conversations that he had known he would be issued a notice of suspicion and fled the country the next day.
Trukhanov also brushed off accusations that he has foreign passports. Documentary evidence emerged on Nov. 20 that Trukhanov is a Russian citizen, according to the database on the site of Russia’s Federal Tax Service. The database shows his name, date of birth, Russian passport number and Russian individual tax number.
In the meantime, dozens of Trukhanov’s supporters crowded in the hallway of the court blocking the way. Oleksandr Presman of the parliament group Vidrozhennya (Revival in Ukrainian), which has 25 seats in Ukraine’s parliament and is one of the offshoots of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Region, said he was ready to post bail for Trukhanov .
National police and members of the National Militia, a newly formed vigilante group, patrolled the building of the court. During a break in the proceedings, a group of so-called “titushki,” or hired thugs, clashed with National Militia representatives and when law enforcers intervened, unknown people used a teargas spray. One National Guard officer was injured in the leg, according to police spokesperson Yaroslav Trakalo.
“All the court building and the roads to it are full of titushky in black uniforms,” according to a coordinator of the Civic Sector of EuroMaidan Oleh Slabospytsky. He also said that Trukhanov’s supporters from the former Party of Regions and other lawmakers had attended the court hearing.
