At the age of 59, Director of Odesa Art Museum, Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Roitburd passed away, the Internet edition Babel reports, citing a source at the museum.

"The artist died after a long illness," the message says.

Minister of Culture of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko and MP of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharenko expressed condolences on their Telegram channels to the relatives, colleagues and friends of the deceased member of Odesa Regional Council from the European Solidarity party.

"It's hard to believe. A genius and an amazing person passed away. He had made hundreds of thousands of people fall in love with art. I remember how just recently we walked through the halls of his museum [...] And today the Great Artist is no longer with us," Tkachenko wrote.