The shooting of prominent Odessa activist Demyan Hanul shocked not only local residents, but the entire country. The attack occurred on March 14 , in broad daylight, in a crowded place, near a public transport stop and residential buildings.
The murder itself was seen by millions of people - the recording from street video cameras quickly made its way to social networks. In the "video" - Demyan, lying motionless near the door of the store. The activist is still alive. An unknown man and woman are standing next to him - probably just passers-by. The killer approaches Demyan with measured steps, a gun in his hands, makes a control shot in the head and calmly walks away in front of eyewitnesses..
It looks so absurd, like a staged shot. However, everything turned out to be real – police sirens wailing, streets blocked off, and machine guns on every corner…
Within a few hours, the attacker was handcuffed: a video of the arrest appeared on social networks. The slightly confused man answers the question confusedly: “Name? Military rank? Weapon?”… According to the investigation, the suspect is a 46-year-old deserter who has been wanted since the end of February of this year. The police assume that he did not return to his place of duty precisely in order to carefully prepare the murder.
The investigation has several versions: a contract killing committed in connection with the activist's professional and public activities, the involvement of Russian special services, and also personal enmity.
It is worth admitting that 31-year-old Hanul had a lot of enemies. A native of Kirovohrad region, he began his public activities in late 2013, and in 2014–2016 he headed the Right Sector power bloc in Odessa. He participated in a number of events, including “garbage lustrations”, patriotic marches and a number of other events related to the “anti-Maidan” opposition. Among them were the mass riots of May 2, 2014.
After leaving the “Right Sector”, Hanul created the public organization “Street Front”. He participated in public actions to close drug dens in Odessa, in protests against the construction of the Summer Theater, green zones and the Black Sea coast. He is known as a volunteer, eco-activist, animal rights activist, ardent fighter against imperial and Soviet symbols – he personally tore down some of them… He reacted harshly to anti-Ukrainian sentiments, found “Russia lovers”, offenders of the military and forced them to apologize on video.
At the same time, it is impossible not to admit that Hanul is also known for other, not very pleasant for him “episodes”. For example, he was accused of xenophobic statements against representatives of national minorities, was detained in a car with ammunition – then the activist claimed that the car was not his. In 2023, he stated that he was beaten by the military because of claims regarding the “car for the front”. It is difficult to say what exactly happened then, but the matter slowly died down.
Last July, Ganul wrote on social media that the Basmanny Court of Moscow had arrested him in absentia under several articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
The man claimed that after a series of actions to protect the honor of the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he received many threats, and personal information about his relatives was found on the Internet, in open access.
Various Russian news sources announced a reward for his “head.” Then the public figure turned to the SBU with a request to provide protection (a few months later, the person who ordered the contract killing, one of whose targets was Demyan, was detained; the accused is now in prison, and law enforcement officials claim that no more requests for protection from Ganul have been received).
A few months ago, he became a father, and he couldn't feel a soul in his little daughter. In the photo posted on Instagram, Demyan is holding his little one in his arms. The caption to the photo brings tears to my eyes: "I understand that motherhood is not only about love and tenderness, it is also about exhaustion and sacrifice. Therefore, support for a woman is titanically necessary, it can manifest itself in anything, but without it, there is no way. Give birth to children, love your wives, go to the Ukrainian church.".
As Hanul's friends said, he was not sure of his safety, and with the birth of his daughter, his anxiety increased even more. According to activists, knowing that he was walking "on a razor's edge," Demyan recently changed his place of residence. But, as we see, this did not help. On the Day of the Ukrainian Volunteer, on the Avenue of Ukrainian Heroes, an activist with a clearly expressed pro-Ukrainian position was shot dead. Whoever ordered the murder and whatever the motives of the criminals, they made a big gift to the enemies of Ukraine.
Larisa Kozova
