Vitaly Ustymenko, the leader of the Odesa branch of the AutoMaidan non-governmental group and a vehement critic of Odesa Mayor Hennady Trukhanov, was attacked and stabbed in Odesa on June 5.
Ustymenko, one of Odesa’s foremost anti-corruption activists, said that the assailants had tried to stab him in the kidneys, but missed, instead slashing his thigh and buttocks and hitting him in the head, leaving him bloodied but only lightly injured.
It is not the first attack on the activist: in February, Ustymenko was beaten during an arrest hearing for Trukhanov in a corruption case by pro-Trukhanov thugs. He was attacked after criticizing the court for releasing Trukhanov without bail. He accused the mayor of being corrupt and a pro-Russian separatist.
Ustymenko also accused Denys Balukh, a member of Odesa’s city council from Trukhanov’s party, of organizing the assault. Balukh was not available for comment. Ustymenko said that Oleksandr Ivanitsky, another member of Odesa city council from Trukhanov’s party, had also hit him.
Trukhanov is accused of embezzlement worth Hr 100 million.
Courts have also refused to suspend Trukhanov as mayor.
In November, documentary evidence emerged 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.
Trukhanov has denied having a Russian passport.
Documents published by Slidstvo.info indicate Trukhanov owns a secret network of offshore firms that control companies that have received city contracts.
Trukhanov, as well as his associates and Odesa businessmen Alexander Angert and Vladimir Galanternik, have been accused of spearheading corruption in Odesa. According to an Italian police dossier, Trukhanov and Angert were members of a mafia gang in the 1990s.
Trukhanov, Angert and Galanternik deny all accusations of wrongdoing.
