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2 May 2014 Odessa clashes

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2 May clashes in Odessa
Part of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
Date2 May 2014
Location
Odessa, Ukraine
Caused by
  • Opposition and support for the Donetsk insurgency
  • Confrontation between supporters and opponents of the post-Maidan Ukrainian government
Methods
  • Running battles[1]
  • Demonstrations[1]
Resulted in
  • Trade Union House badly damaged
  • Pro-Russian protest camp burnt down
Parties
Ukraine Pro-Ukrainian unity demonstrators[2]
Pro-Russian activists/militants[3][4][5][6][7]
Transnistria Russian nationals from Transnistria (Ukrainian claim)[8]
Russia Russian nationals (Ukrainian claim)[9]
Casualties and losses
Deaths: 6[10]
Deaths: 36[11]
Total casualties: 46 dead and 214 injured[12]
Arrests: 172[8]

As part of the rising unrest in Ukraine in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian groups broke out in different streets and squares in Odessa on 2 May 2014.[13][14][2] The events were the bloodiest civil conflict in Odessa since 1918.[15]

Background

Main article: 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine

Unrest gripped largely Russophone eastern and southern Ukraine in the aftermath of the Euromaidan movement and the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. Odessa Oblast remained mostly calm, with sporadic demonstrations by pro-Maidan, anti-Maidan and pro-Russian groups.[16] As the situation increasingly deteriorated in Donetsk Oblast, pro-Maidan protesters held a rally for a united Ukraine in Odessa.[1]

Events

A scheduled rally at 14:00 for national unity was held in Sobornaya Square by about 1,500 people, including many FC Chornomorets Odesa and FC Metalist Kharkiv fans, along with some Right Sector members, and many ordinary people.[17][2][18] The joint marches among the sports fans were a regular tradition before all football matches.[15] The atmosphere was described as positive, with fans of both teams from Odessa and Kharkiv singing the Ukrainian national anthem together, chanting patriotic slogans such as “Odessa, Kharkiv, Ukraine” and singing songs against Russian President Vladimir Putin.[15]

Attendees told journalists beforehand that they had found out through social media that "anti-Maidan supporters were calling for everyone to gather and crush the unification march."[17] One of the pages called on their supporters in Odessa to “take after Donetsk,” a reference to pro-Russian attacks that took place against pro-Ukrainian demonstrators in Donetsk days prior.[15]

According to Ukrainian government reports, a bus of pro-Russian separatists was detained while trying to enter the city; the group aboard was immediately released into the city on the order of a high ranking police official.[19]

Escalation into clashes

This rally was later attacked by a pro-Russian mob armed with bats at Hretska Street.[18][20][13] Both sides fought running battles against each other, exchanging stones and petrol bombs, and built barricades throughout the city during the afternoon.[21] The pro-Russian side was armed, some using the roof top of the Afina shopping centre to shoot down at the crowds.[22]

Eyewitness accounts claim the first victim was a pro-Ukraine protester shot with an automatic weapon,[23][24] and that an antimaidan supporter, armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, opened fire in a lane leading to Odessa's main Derybasivskaya Street.[15]

Trade Unions House fire

A view of the Trade Unions House, on Kulikovo Field, prior to the unrest

As soon a word spread about the attack by pro-Russian demonstrators, a call by pro-Ukrainian demonstrators to go to Kulikovo Field and destroy the anti-Maidan camp emerged on social networks.[17] As a result, the pro-Russian crowd was later overwhelmed by the pro-Ukrainian demonstrators, and their encampment outside the Trade Unions House building was torched.[18][25][5] This forced the pro-Russian forces to enter that building, and occupy it.[25] The building is five-storeys tall, and is the headquarters of the Odessa regional federation of trade unions.[26] It is located on Kulikovo Field, in the city centre.[26]

Reports about the precise sequence of events that followed vary between different sources. While defending the building, militants on the roof tossed rocks and petrol bombs at the protesters below.[22][5][27] A report by the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (UNIAN) said that the pro-united Ukraine crowd began to throw petrol bombs into the building after having been fired upon by the pro-Russian group.[28] Another report by BBC News claimed that the situation was unclear, and that both sides had been throwing petrol bombs.[29] However, an article in the Washington Post said that a "pro-Ukrainian mob" threw petrol bombs into the building, causing the building to set alight.[21] An official investigation conducted by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry stated that no firearms were found inside the building, but that the pro-Russian group accidentally set the building on fire whilst throwing petrol bombs.[30][31] An eyewitness told BBC that a pro-Russian group member attempted to throw a Molotov cocktail through a closed window on the third floor, "However, the glass didn't break and a fire started inside".[22] Russian sources dispute this report, claiming that the fire was started intentionally by "pro-Kiev radicals".[32]

Pro-Russian encampment outside the Trade Union House

Regardless of who started the fire, it is known that it started on the second and third floors of the building, and quickly spread.[26] Firefighters were slow to respond, arriving an hour after the fire began.[15] Thirteen units of fire and rescue apparatus were sent to the scene, but were prevented from operating because of the large number of people gathered around the building.[26] Pro-Ukrainian activists saved several dozen people from the rooms on the second and third floor.[15] Fifty pro-Russian militants remained on the roof, barricading themselves in and refusing to leave, while others were seen attempting to jump out of the windows.[32][33]

Casualties

Thirty-one people died whilst trapped in the burning Trade Unions House; twenty-three from carbon monoxide poisoning, and eight after leaping from windows to escape the flames.[34] In total, forty-three people died in one day as a result of the clashes.[35] Police said at least three people were shot dead.[36][37][38] Hospital staff reported that 174 were injured, and 25 were in critical condition.[39] 172 people were reported arrested as a result of the conflict, and 38 pro-Russian militants were arrested by police after they had evacuated the burning building.[8][40]

A TSN correspondent reported that of those who died in the fire, fifteen were Russian citizens, and five were from Transnistria.[41] Odessa City Council deputy Dmitry Spivak also said that some of the rioters were from Transnistria.[42] The Interior Ministry stated that the identity of most of the victims had not been determined on 2 May, despite these reports.[43] On the day after the clashes, the Odessa office of the Interior Ministry issued another statement saying that eight of those who died in the fire were identified, and that all of them were from Odessa.[44]

Vladimir Nemirovsky, chairman of the Odessa regional government, stated that the conflict could have been avoided had police fulfilled their duties, and accused police of inciting the confrontation and taking bribes to switch allegiance to the separatists' side. Several police were seen donning the red armbands worn by pro-Russian rioters.[45]

Aftermath

The city of Odessa announced that three days of mourning would be held in honour of those who lost their lives in the clashes.[46] Ukrainian interim President Oleksandr Turchynov followed suit, declaring two days of national mourning for those who died in the clashes, also those who died during a government counter-offensive in Donetsk Oblast.[46]

Both pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian demonstrators gathered outside the burnt Trade Unions House on the day after the clashes.[47] Roughly 2,000 pro-Russian protesters gathered outside, chanting: "Odessa is a Russian city."[48] There was a heavy police presence, and some minor scuffles between protesters.[47] In another outbreak of unrest, the Interior Ministry's headquarters in Odessa was attacked by several hundred pro-Russian activists on 4 May.[49] Originally a protest, the events later turned violent when masked demonstrators with improvised weapons started breaking windows, and forcing gates open.[49] In an attempt to pacify the protesters, the officials inside the building released between 30 and 67 of those arrested in the aftermath of the clashes.[49]

Investigation

An investigation conducted by the Interior Ministry determined that the majority of the 172 people who had been arrested were identified are Russian nationals, and residents of Transnistria. Police confiscated a large number of firearms during the arrests.[8]

According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the clashes that took place involved the participation of 'illegal military groups' and mercenaries coordinated in Transnistria by subversive groups from Russia, and financed by former members of the Yanukovych government.[8][9] Named were former Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov and former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Klymenko. "Subversion in the Ukrainian city of Odessa that was financed by former top officials targeted at disrupting stability in the south of Ukraine," said Kateryna Kosareva, SBU press spokeswoman. "Its organizers were planning that it would be the beginning of full scale instability in the rest of the southern regions of our country."[50]

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVS) announced that among the conflict organizers it had detained, at least three were citizens of the Russian Federation. Among them were named Evgeny Mefedov, from Yoshkar-Ola; Andrei Krasilnikov, from Nizhny Novgorod; and Alexander Zolotashko.[9]

Reactions

  •  Russian Federation – Russia's Foreign Ministry said that the fire was "yet another manifestation of the criminal irresponsibility of the Kiev authorities who indulge insolent radical nationalists … which are engaging in a campaign of physical terror", against those wanting 'greater autonomy' living in Russian-speaking regions.[51]
  •  Ukraine – "We believe that a full and impartial investigation, which is being conducted by law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, will enable us to find not only the perpetrators of the tragedy, but also their puppeteers and sponsors both in Ukraine and in Russia," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.[9] "That which we saw in Odessa was a [Russian] Federal Security Service provocation to deflect attention from the anti-terrorist operation [in eastern Ukraine]" said acting presidential chief of staff Serhiy Pashynsky. "They [the FSB] want to show that situation [in the country] is not stable, but what happened in Odessa showed something else, that the people's patience has run out." Pashynsky also stated that the FSB armed pro-Russian militants in Odessa.[52]
  •  United States - US State Department: "The United States today mourns with all Ukrainians the heartbreaking loss of life in Odessa. Today the international community must stand together in support of the Ukrainian people as they cope with this tragedy".[53]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Dozens die in Odessa, rebels down Ukraine helicopters". Reuters. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Pro-Ukrainians, pro-Russians clash in Odessa". Global Post. Agence France-Presse. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Odessa erupts into violence again as pro-Russian protesters vent anger against riot police outside burned-out building after 42 killed in riots between rival groups". The Daily Mail. 3 May 2014. 3 May 2014. Firefighters work at the burned Trade Union building which had been occupied by pro-Russian militants
  4. ^ "Ukraine Presses Pro-Russia Militants After Fighting Spreads to Odessa". The New York Times. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014. many of the dead were pro-Russia militants who had retreated into a trade union building
  5. ^ a b c Amos, Howard (2 May 2014). "Dozens reported dead after Odessa building fire". The Guardian. Pro-Russia fighters mounted a last-ditch defence of the burning building, throwing masonry and petrol bombs from the roof on to the crowd below.
  6. ^ "Police say pro-Russians accidentally set fatal Odessa fire with Molotov cocktails". Kyiv Post. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014. An eyewitness account from Odesa posted online states that Russian-backed militants shot at and killed at least four soccer fans
  7. ^ "Ukrainian Unrest Spreads; Dozens Dead in Odessa". The Blaze. Associated Press. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014. local media reported that pro-Russian militants were believed to have been in the building at the time
  8. ^ a b c d e "MIA: Most of the detainees in Odessa - Russian citizens and residents of Transnistria". Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d "СБУ и МИД заявили о причастности россиян к провокациям и беспорядкам в Одессе". ZN. 3 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Police say 42 killed in Odessa in worst violence of Ukraine crisis http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-wn-ukraine-russia-odessa-clash-20140502,0,6927270.story#ixzz30ix5Hsc1". The Los Angeles Times. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014. {{cite news}}: External link in |title= (help)
  11. ^ "Top Ukraine official declares civil war". The Daily News. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  12. ^ "Death toll reaches 46 people, 125 injured in Odesa clashes, fire". Kyiv Post. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Dozens killed in Odessa fire amid clashes". BBC News. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  14. ^ "4 dead in Ukraine's Odessa as pro- and anti-Maidan rallies clash". Russia Today. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Dibrov, Sergiy (4 May 2014). "What really happened in Odessa: A step-by-step reconstruction of a tragedy that killed 46 people". Kyiv Post.
  16. ^ "Latest from the Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine" (Press release). Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  17. ^ a b c Rykovtseva, Elena (3 May 2014). "Odesa Dispatch: 'Some Murders Are Announced'". RFERL. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  18. ^ a b c "How did Odessa's fire happen?". BBC News. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  19. ^ http://www.unian.net/politics/914082-odesskiy-gubernator-vozlojil-otvetstvennost-za-smerti-na-militsiyu.html
  20. ^ "Dozens killed in building fire in Odessa, ministry says". The Guardian. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  21. ^ a b "Ukraine suffers deadliest day in months; 34 killed in Odessa". The Washington Post. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  22. ^ a b c "How did Odessa's fire happen?". BBC. 4 May 2014.
  23. ^ "Вчера в Одессе сепаратисты расстреливали проукраинских митингующих. Фотофакт (Yesterday in Odessa separatists shot pro-Ukrainian protesters)". News of Donbass (in Russian). 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  24. ^ "On the Internet there Odessa photo armed separatists". Liga News. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  25. ^ a b "В Одессе проукраинские активисты ликвидировали лагерь сепаратистов (In Odessa, the pro-Ukrainian activists eliminated the separatists)". Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (in Russian). 2 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  26. ^ a b c d "В Доме профсоюзов в Одессе найдено 36 трупов - ГСЧС (In the House of Trade Unions in Odessa found 36 corpses - GSCHS)". Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  27. ^ http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/473754/Dozens-killed-by-smoke-as-Ukraine-moves-closer-to-civil-war
  28. ^ http://www.unian.net/politics/914095-kak-gorel-dom-profsoyuzov-v-odesse.html#ad-image-0
  29. ^ "Dozens killed in Odessa fire amid clashes". BBC News. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  30. ^ http://www.unn.com.ua/ru/news/1337991-v-militsiyi-nazivayut-domislami-informatsiyu-pro-nibito-zagiblikh-v-odesi-rosiyan-i-pridnistrovtsiv
  31. ^ http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/sbu-russia-behind-kidnapping-of-osce-military-observers-updates-videos-346066.html
  32. ^ a b "31 people die after radicals set Trade Unions House on fire in Ukraine's Odessa". Russia Today. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  33. ^ http://tsn.ua/ukrayina/v-odesi-separatisti-zabarikaduvalisya-na-dahu-a-v-budivli-promishlyayut-maroderi-347950.html
  34. ^ "Dozens killed in Odessa fire as violence spreads to country's south". The Daily Telegraph. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  35. ^ http://tsn.ua/ukrayina/krivavi-sutichki-v-odesi-zabrali-zhittya-43-osib-25-perebuvayut-u-tyazhkomu-stani-347951.html
  36. ^ "Ukraine Chaos Spreads to Odessa as 38 Killed in Fire Related to Unrest". Voice of America. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  37. ^ Официально: на Куликовом поле погиб 31 человек, на Греческой — четверо (осторожно, фото)
  38. ^ http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/05/2/7024213/
  39. ^ "У лікарнях Одеси - більше 170 постраждалих (Hospitals in Odessa - more than 170 injured)". The Insider (in Ukrainian). 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  40. ^ Бойня на Куликовом поле: милиция задержала 38 «антимайдановцев»
  41. ^ "Наразі пожежа вже ліквідована, проте її причини досі невідомі". TSN.ua. 2 May 2014.
  42. ^ http://unimedia.info/stiri/video-ciocniri-violente-in-odesa-cel-putin-38-de-morti-75866.html
  43. ^ "В міліції називають домислами інформацію про нібито загиблих в Одесі росіян і придністровців". Українські національні новини. 3 May 2014.
  44. ^ Опознаны восемь погибших в Доме профсоюзов в Одессе – все одесситы, Interfax-Ukraine, 3 May 2014| language=Russian
  45. ^ "Odessa police officers appear involved in bloody riots". TCH (in Ukrainian). 2 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  46. ^ a b "Odessa slaughter: How vicious mob burnt anti-govt activists alive". Russia Today. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  47. ^ a b "Russia sympathisers vent anger at Ukraine Odessa deaths". BBC News. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  48. ^ "Ukrainе Anti-Terror Chief: This Is War". Voice of America News. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  49. ^ a b c "Odessa detainees freed as police HQ attacked". BBC News. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  50. ^ http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/sbu-yanukovych-allies-arbuzov-and-klymenko-financed-riots-in-odessa-346099.html
  51. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/02/police-38-dead-in-protes_n_5255399.html
  52. ^ http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/presidential-administration-russias-federal-security-service-armed-odesa-separatists-346063.html
  53. ^ "Tragic Loss of Life in Odesa" (Press release). United States Department of State. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.


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