On Monday morning, April 20, a body of 51-year-old Oleksandr Ivanytskyi was found in a car in the Prymorskyy district of Odesa — a deputy of the Odesa City Council and head of the standing commission on housing and communal services. The Odesa regional prosecutor's office confirmed the identity of the deceased and reported the start of an investigation. Police are investigating the version of suicide with a firearm.

Who was Ivanytskyi

According to the deputy portal of the Odesa City Council, Ivanytskyi was a member of the "Trust in Deeds" party faction — a structure created and led by former Odesa mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov. According to "Dumska," citing its own sources, the deputy was in Trukhanov's inner circle, including in the actual leadership of the party.

Ivanytskyi was born on October 1, 1975, in Odesa, and had two higher educations — in civil engineering and law. He was a deputy of several convocations and, according to the Center for Public Investigations, did not miss a single meeting of the standing commission during the third year of his term — one of 21 deputies with such discipline.

Ivanytskyi also managed to get involved in public scandals. In particular, Suspilne Odesa recorded a language incident at a meeting of his commission — after which the deputy explained that he called the Russian language "bad."

A position with access to city resources

The Commission on Housing and Communal Services is one of the most influential in any major city council: decisions on tariffs, contractors, and communal property pass through it. Ivanytskyi headed it. At the time of his death, media had not recorded any public investigations against him.

"Deputy Ivanytskyi has died. At the age of 51, Oleksandr Ivanytskyi, deputy of the Odesa City Council, tragically passed away"

— Holovkom, citing official sources

What happens next

An investigative-operational team worked at the scene. The prosecutor's office opened a criminal investigation. The official version is suicide, but the investigation has not yet confirmed it conclusively. The "Trust in Deeds" party and Trukhanov's circle did not publicly comment on the death of their deputy as of the time this material was published.

If the investigation indeed confirms the suicide version — without a criminal element — a practical question arises: who and how quickly will fill the vacant position of head of the housing and communal services commission, and whether Trukhanov will use this to strengthen control over the faction under conditions where the former mayor himself is under pressure after the end of his term.