Kuchuk Mykhailo Illich

Perennial Odesa deputy mayor who survived both the bullets of the 90s and NABU in the 2020s

"Honored Builder," an engineer-economist who spent half his life in deputy mayor chairs: Odesa executive committee since 1994, deputy mayor under Hurvits, later first deputy under Trukhanov (since 2020), and in between — deputy head of Kyiv City State Administration. Already in the turbulent 1998 he was imprisoned, but "thanks to the patronage of influential figures" quietly surfaced. A resilient figure.

Three of Trukhanov's deputies, one suspicion — and all suddenly abroad

In December 2022, NABU and SAP announced suspicion of Kuchuk and two other Trukhanov deputies in bribery and participation in a criminal organization controlling the Odesa City Council. Kuchuk promptly resigned, left the country, and received a suspicion in absentia — shortly thereafter he was declared wanted. Simultaneously he appears in the Odesa airport case: in June 2025 — among seven who concluded a record plea bargain. He acknowledged guilt, shared a billion in compensation with "colleagues" — and remained out of prison, somewhere abroad. A builder who best constructed his way out.