You're reading: Fire strikes Odesa volunteer center, no casualties

A fire damaged a historic building in central Odesa, home to a number of volunteer organizations, on Nov. 29.


The local fire department responded at 2:19 a.m. to reports of smoke coming from the top of the
three-story building on 3 Lanzheronivska St. The third and part of the second floor of the
building – a total of 80 square meters – were damaged by the fire,
according to Odesa authorities.

Some 23 firefighters made it to the
site to put out the fire. No victims were reported.

The cause
of the fire is under investigation.

“It’s a
very suspicious fire,” said Odesa-based volunteer Oksana Alexeeva. “It looks like (someone)
wants to drive volunteers out of the center.”

While
volunteers believe the fire was suspicious, Serhiy Sternenko, a local
Pravy Sektor activist, says it was caused by inadequate wiring in the building, which
was built in Odesa at the beginning of the 19th century.

The
building housing pro-Ukrainian volunteer organizations is under the protection of the Odesa
regional administration. It has been patrolled by the government and private
security companies after a series of explosions struck the city, home to 1 million residents, in early 2015.

On Jan. 4, a local EuroMaidan coordination
center involved in raising donations for Ukrainian
soldiers was hit by a bomb blast. In December 2014, explosions hit the Odesa-Peresyp
railway station and a
bar, leaving three injured.

At least 15
organizations that have been supplying Ukrainian soldiers with equipment
and helping displaced civilians moved
to the building at the center of the latest fire in 2014. Previously, the office of Kyivstar mobile operator was
located there.

Some of the
equipment vanished after the fire, volunteers say.

“Warm clothes, balaclavas,
gloves, a couple of uniforms and even some clothes for old people who live on
the frontlines disappeared,” Alexeeva, who is engaged in raising donations for
Ukrainian soldiers, told the Kyiv Post. “And
the Donbas Regiment flag that was given to me by the soldiers was torn down. I’m
pissed off.”

Aleexeva
said she already has spoken to investigators. The Odesa regional administration scheduled
a meeting with volunteers on Nov. 30 to discuss the situation.

Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected].