Trukhanov and eight other Odesa officials are charged with official negligence that allegedly led to the deaths of nine people during a severe storm on Sept. 30. Prosecutors had requested round-the-clock house arrest for the former mayor as part of their investigation.
On Oct. 28, Trukhanov, along with several Odesa City Council officials and employees of a municipal enterprise, was formally charged with negligence.
Among the suspects are two of Trukhanov’s former deputies, officials from the city council’s departments, and the director, head, and chief engineers of a municipal enterprise division. A total of nine suspects face up to eight years in prison if convicted.
The charges stem from the deadly floods that hit Odesa on Sept. 30, killing nine people, including a family with a child. Investigators say the city’s drainage system was unprepared for the heavy rainfall.
Trukhanov said the charges came as “a surprise.” He insisted that the city “worked minute by minute” during the emergency and had warned residents about the storm in advance.
The former mayor also claimed that local authorities “could not have prevented” the disaster’s consequences, arguing that the weather alert from the hydrometeorological center arrived only after the fatalities had already occurred.