An Odesa City Council member, Oleksandr Ivanytskyi, was found dead on Monday, April 20, with police investigating the circumstances, including a possible suicide.
According to local outlet Dumska, Ivanytskyi died at the age of 50.
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The body was discovered inside a car in Odesa’s Primorsky district, the regional police said. Preliminary findings suggest the man may have died from a gunshot wound in what is being treated as a possible suicide.
Police said an investigative team is working at the scene and that all circumstances are still being established.
Ivanytskyi had served on the city council since 2010 and was a member of a local political group aligned with Odesa mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov. He previously chaired the housing and utilities committee.
Trukhanov, who served as Odesa’s mayor from 2014 to 2024, has previously faced several corruption-related investigations. He was deprived of Ukrainian citizenship by a decree issued by President Volodymyr Zelensky on Oct. 14, along with that of former lawmaker Oleg Tsaryov, and ballet dancer Sergei Polunin.
The reason – confirmed following an investigation by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) – was the illegal retention of Russian citizenship.
Trukhanov denied accusations and called the decision to revoke his Ukrainian citizenship “a falsification,” saying he plans to challenge it in court.
This extraordinary event is the latest in a catalogue of wartime clashes between central government and local, regional and city-based authorities that have seen several mayors, including those from Chernihiv, Mukachevo, and Cherkasy, losing their positions.
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The circumstances behind the removal of Trukhanov are unique, but under Ukrainian law, an individual who has been stripped of his citizenship simply cannot serve as mayor.
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