Odessa Trade Union massacre

On May 2, 2014, in Odessa a day of clashes between pro- and anti-Kiev government protesters ended with a tragedy of over 40 dead people inside and around the Trade Union Building, after it was attacked by pro-Kiev government forces who first destroyed the anti-Kiev protest camp outside the building and then set it on fire with a swarm of molotov cocktails. Several people jumped out of the windows, some of them got further injured or even killed by their opponents after hitting the ground, and many were burned alive inside the building.

Ukraine

 * Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on the Events in Odessa


 * ''Kyiv, 3 May 2014. Yesterday, 2 May 2014, tragic events took place in Odessa, leaving dozens killed and hundreds injured.
 * ''According to the law enforcement authorities, a group of provocateurs who declared separatist and pro-Russian slogans attacked a rally of supporters of Ukraine’s unity.
 * ''The scale of the tragedy is striking. We consider these events to be the continuation of an effort to undermine our state which poses threat to the life and security of our citizens.
 * ''We strongly condemn the actions aimed at the breakup of Ukraine and destabilization of the situation in the south of the country.
 * ''Events in Odessa show that separatists’ subversive activities in Ukraine are doomed to failure because not only do the Ukrainian citizens not support the so-called ‘separatists’ but they also strongly oppose any attempts to break the unity of our country and resist the terrorists and militants.
 * ''We would like to offer our sincere and deep condolences over the tragedy.
 * ''The law enforcement authorities are conducting an all-round, objective investigation of these tragic events, and those responsible must be punished.

Antifascist resistance

 * Vladimir Suchan on Facebook
 * Synopsis of the Odessa massacre: Andrey Parabui, the head of the Ukraine Security Council, arrived in Odessa apparently the day before the massacre. There is a video with him, giving several armor vests to a Right Sector check point at a crossing before Odessa on the day of his arrival.


 * After massive 1 May antifascist demonstration, the Right Sector and the Ukrainian National Socialist Organization and not just "soccer fans") converged on the city. There are numerous videos showing the Odessa junta police and the fascist paramilitaries consulting with each other and the authorities in Kiev their joint actions.


 * On several videos, the police and the fascist mob can be seen as working closely together--militants shooting from behind the police, the police letting them pass, etc. In the morning hours, the fascist "pro-unity" marches congregated in several central streets of Odessa, thus drawing there antifascist protesters.


 * It is evident that this early phase was well planned as a diversionary tactic for the main target was the Kulikovo field with the Labor Union building which was the center of nearly all antifascist manifestations in Odessa. It is also there where antifascist patriots set up their makeshift tent city. The junta felt that this needed to be cleared and that, at the same time, the protesters must be taught a harsh lesson which would break the spirit of this "hero city," a title Odessa gained with several other select cities in the Great Patriotic War.


 * The diversion worked, and many of the young antifascist activists remained in downtown. In well synchronized and organized columns, the fascist paramilitaries then quickly regrouped and moved against their principal target--the antifascist tent city on the Kulikovo field accompanied by units of the Odessa police. Because of the successful diversion, most of the people on the Kulikovo field were middle-age and older people with many women among them. As soon as they arrived there, the militants not only started burning and destroying the tents, but they also started killing the people. They did in such a way that, for most people, the only exit left was into the Labor Union building. That was a trap.


 * Once they got the people inside, the fascists started throwing Molotov cocktails and shooting. However, as can be seen on the photos and videos, the fire was mainly at the main entrance and in few several rooms elsewhere. Only a smaller number of victims showed signs of being completely burned. Many of the victims died of suffocation or strangling or their upper bodies or faces were burned. Many of the victims were shot into the heads. Many were beaten to death.


 * This means that most of the victims were hunted and killed one by one inside the building. This killing spree given the size of the building apparently lasted over several hours and as going on even when the much delayed and very feeble response of the fire department was detected.


 * All this time, the Odessa police stood by and some of the police with ties to the Right Sector reportedly assisted the fascists by shooting into the people who were climbing on the windows. After several hours, the police then acted and detained ... guess who ... some 60-80 antifascist survivors who then, without food or water, were kept for many hours in the police department, and charged with multiple crimes, including murder.


 * The one main thing, which the police was interested most, was trying to find at least one "Russian" in the group. Alas, this did not succeed. All the victims and now detainees were Odessites (unlike may of the fascist militants). An angry crowd later that day forced their release .... which profoundly upset the Right Sector murderers. An Odessite grandmother was memorably recorded "beating" with lilacs (who used to symbolize Victory Day--lilacs blossom in May) Odessa policemen who were blocking on Saturday the Labor Union building with the corpses (most likely well over 100) still there.


 * Only when it was dark, the Right Sector crawled back and came back to the scene of their crime singing and shouting "glory" to themselves. Evidently, the corpses were removed soon after--during the night for today, as various videos show, people started to roam the devastated building still shocked, distraught, and upset. As expected and true to its character, the junta first blamed the victims. They allegedly caused the fire themselves and burned themselves by throwing Molotov cocktails on the peaceful pro-junta protesters.


 * A later modified line, repeated by Western media, was that what happened was a "tragedy," but one without a perpetrator. The one problem identified was some sort of further unspecified failing on the part of the local police. The head of the police was replaced .... with an even more over Right Sector hand.


 * Following a cue from Catherine Ashton, Yatsenyuk, the junta's PM, then issued a call (to an unspecified addressee) for an "independent investigation." The same assembly of fascist murderous thugs was planning to hit in a similar way Kharkov. The massive outrage and mobilization appears to have stopped this or at least delayed for now.


 * Some of the evidence is here: http://ai-zhilin.livejournal.com/1360753.html

The Saker

 * Russia might very soon do something rather counter-intuitive: nothing at all – The Vineyard of the Saker, April 10, 2014


 * ''In 1993 the Russian Parliament building was defended pretty much in the same way as the buildings in eastern Kiev are: all sorts of supporters outside the building, but the core defenders inside. Once the shooting began, the crowd of sympathizers outside rapidly dispersed.  Shortly after the building itself was assaulted an offer was made to those willing surrender to let them out safely.  Some accepted.  Others stayed.  The assault of the building resumed and the bloodbath which took place inside was hidden from the public.  As for those who surrendered, they were hunted down while leaving the area, beat up and often murdered.  Finally, the winning side engaged in a massive hunt for Parliament-sympathizers who were hunted down, arrested, beat up and even killed for a least a week.  Something very similar might happen in the next few days in eastern Ukraine.
 * ''[...]
 * ''Alas, my experience in Moscow in 1993 (I was there during the full crisis) tells me that you can always find enough people to butcher their fellow-citizens, as long as they get to hide from the cameras. There is nothing more easy then to hide a mass murder inside a burning building - and they know that.

Reactions
@carlbildt on Twitter:
 * ''Horrible with at least 38 dead in Odessa. Seems to have started with pro-Russian attempt to get control of buildings!

Kateryna_Kruk ‏@Kateryna_Kruk
 * ''#Odessa cleaned itself from terrorists, proud for city fighting for its identity.glory to fallen heroes..

Mykolas Alutis on Facebook
 * ''The Maidanites came into the building after it was burned. And then they look for people that were still alive and they beat them till they were killed. The survivors who jumped from the building and were severely injured were beaten to death by the Maidanite neo-fascists with baseball bats.

Vladimir Suchan on Facebook quoting 1TV.ru
 * ''The Odessa massacre was an organized action of terror carried out as a special joint operation of the junta security forces and the Right Sector. It was revealed that, at the time of the Odessa massacre at the hands of numerous Right Sector fascists that were brought to the city after May 1 celebrations, Andreiy Parubiy, the junta's Secretary of the National Security and National Defense Committee, was in Odessa (as he was also the day before). It is also now clear that the activities of the Right Sector and (in)actions of the Odessa law enforcement and security forces directly subordinate to Parubiy were also coordinated and directed by Parubiy himself. Accounts from the site of the massacre do also tell stories of the police acting on clear commands from above as to what to and to do. The massacre was thus happening against the background of a detectable coordination and synchronization between the fascist radicals, the junta police, and even the Fire Department--ensuring complete freedom of action, safety, and impunity for the fascists who set so many people on fire and beat and shot others to death, while preventing ambulances from offering medical assistance. In response to the mass murder, the Right Sector issued a statement in which it effectively declared its actions to be both the new law of the land and the state of emergency, in which the fascists are not bound by any other law except by their will to "act cruelly." After the massacre, Julia Tymosheno expressed her "gratitude" to the same fascist forces, whom she called "Odessites", for subduing "the separatists."

Print

 * 31 people die after radicals set Trade Unions House on fire in Ukraine's Odessa – RT
 * ‘They beat us with bats and chains’ - anti-Maidan activist in Odessa – RT
 * Радикалы позируют с сожженными заживо ополченцами (Radicals posing with burned alive militias) – Life News
 * Ukraine clashes: dozens dead after Odessa building fire – Guardian, May 2
 * В Одессе боевики "Правого сектора" заживо сожгли протестующих в Доме профсоюзов (In Odessa, the militants of the "right sector" protesters burned alive in the House of Trade Unions) – 1TV.ru
 * People in Ukraine's Odessa died instantly, poisoned by unknown substance - report
 * Бойня в Одессе: как это было (Slaughterhouse in Odessa: how it was)
 * Radicals shooting at people in Odessa’s burning building caught on tape – RT, May 4, 2014
 * Odessa tragedy survivor: ‘Many people strangled after escaping the fire’ – RT, May 07, 2014

Analysis

 * Ukraine SITREP update - May 2nd, 20:14 UTC/Zulu: massacre in Odessa – The Saker
 * Ukraine SITREP update - May 3nd, 16:20 UTC/Zulu: "the mysterious Russian soul?"
 * Анализ произошедшего в Одессе 2 мая (Analysis of events in Odessa May 2)
 * МЕХАНИКА ПРОВОКАЦИИ В ОДЕССЕ (Mechanics of provocation in Odessa)
 * там и тогда - Из-за спины...
 * Odessa, 2nd of MAY
 * Odessa, Ukraine (Novorossiya). New facts about how local citizens were burried.
 * the thugs killed Odessa inhabitants in the Trade Unions House - the details of bloody scenario
 * https://vvv-ig.livejournal.com/690116.html
 * http://andreistp.livejournal.com/2736701.html
 * http://aloban75.livejournal.com/691787.html
 * http://ruposters.ru/archives/4749
 * http://vesti.ua/odessa/50433-odesskaja-hatyn-kak-jeto-bylo-na-samom-dele
 * http://darussophile.com/2014/05/massacre-in-odessa/
 * http://scgnews.com/odessa-massacre-evidence-the-mainstream-media-wont-show-you-warning-disturbing-footage
 * Crucial investigation into the role of the junta in the Odessa massacre (MUST READ!) – The Saker
 * Бойня в Одессе результат провокации (Slaughterhouse in Odessa result of provocation)
 * The Odessa Massacre – A Personal Tribute – Graham Phillips
 * Spinning the Odessa Massacre – Tony Cartalucci,06.05.2014
 * MASSACRE IN ODESSA – Alexander Mercouris, May 5, 2014
 * Genocide in Novorossiya and swan song of Ukrainian statehood – Andre Fomine, May 6, 2014
 * Odessa: Neo-Nazis Filmed Shooting at People Trapped in Trade Union Building
 * Western cover-up of Odessa massacre – FINIAN CUNNINGHAM, May 7, 2014
 * Ukrainian Thread (Українська Тема) – Stormfront Europe
 * Bloodbath in Odessa guided by interim rulers of Ukraine – by ANTIFASCIST (Ukraine), May 14, 2014
 * МЧС Украины: люди в Одессе погибли не от угарного газа (Ministry of Emergency Situations of Ukraine: Odessa people did not die from carbon monoxide) – 15 MAY 2014

Witnesses

 * Eyewitness speaks of horror at Odessa Trade Unions Assembly Hall on 2 May 2014 – 14.05.2014
 * /Vladimir Bodelan

Location

 * Satellite image showing locations of clashes. The park to the left and the first clash bottom left can be seen in the UStream video described below. The top-left corner of the image is here on Wikimapia. The Trade Union Building is around 1.5 km SSE from there.

Photos

 * Одесса, Дом профсоюзов, 3 мая 2014 г. Смотрите! И не говорите, что не видели! (Odessa, House of Trade Unions, May 3, 2014 Look! And do not say you have not seen!)
 * Details of bloody scenario (Some of the pictures in the link above in better quality/detail, some analysis)
 * Voice of Russia
 * http://fishki.net/anti/1266149-zhertvy-odessy-dom-profsojuzov.html
 * http://vk.com/wall-42578918_82518?z=album-62266152_194407858

Downtown scuffles

 * Playlist
 * Odessa May 2, 2014 – Red armbands = antifascist
 * 02 05 2014 Одесса
 * UStream recording of what first appears to be a gathering of football fans, but at around 8 min it shows hundreds of armed and armored paramilitary guys. Camera follows the police who stop a smaller group of militants approaching, street fights ensue. More videos from later the day.
 * Pogrome in Odessa, 02.05.2014, unnarrated chronological collection of scenes that day. Most interesting at late 8 min police seen together with the fighters of the "14-th hundred of Maidan self-guard" mentioned by the Borotba activist, who according to the uploader now in part joined Parubiy's "National Guard" but original are part of the Nationalistic Youth Congress. Prime suspects if not even more "special" forces were involved.

Trade Union Building

 * В Сети появилось видео начала штурма Дома профсоюзов в Одессе (Video of assault on House of Trade Unions in Odessa on the net) – Life News, May 6, 2014
 * ''One of the entries captured the beginning of the tragedy: immediately after nationalists burned the tent city activists Antimaydana. The footage shows that crowd of young men in masks and wooden sticks in their hands knocked out one of the side doors and entered the building.
 * ''Next record has been going on inside the building. Militants spread all corridor - someone goes to the second floor, one begins to break in the door, behind which, apparently tried to hide Antimaydana activists. Brutal thugs literally pounce on the locked shutters. In the frame comes a woman who begs radicals stop.
 * ''Frames on the record shows that some of the participants of the storm House of Trade Unions have masks. And it is possible that the assumptions of the poisoning victims Ukrainian radicals toxic substances far from the truth.
 * The Denis Cherkasov videos‎ have now been deleted from YouTube. See talk for accessing.


 * How the Odessa Fire Massacre Began (RAW VIDEO FOOTAGE) – SCG
 * Новое. Одесса сейчас. 02.05.2014. (Горит Дом профсоюзов) (New. Odessa now. 02/05/2014. (Lit House of Trade Unions))
 * Одесса горит дом профсоюзов 2 05 2014 (Odessa Trade Union Building burns May 2, 2014)
 * ТА Одесса 20140502 203940
 * Одесса Дом профсоюзов Внутри Сепаратисты погибшие в пожаре 02 мая 2014 года Трансляция – (Odessa House of Trade Unions Inside separatists who died in a fire May 2, 2014 Broadcast)
 * 18+ Одесса 2 05 2014 в доме профсоюзов уже насчитали 17 трупов (18 + Odessa May 2, 2014 in the house of trade unions already counted 17 corpses)
 * Shooting at people who try to escape from the flames in Odessa.
 * Это мой народ? Collection of key scenes at the Trade Union building
 * 04.05.2014, Одесса Освобожденный из ГорУВД активист антимайдана (04.05.2014, Odessa Freed from GorUVD activist antimaydana)
 * Man claims 116 killed.
 * Одесса Самооборона Майдана подожгла Дом Профсоюзов (Odessa Maidan self-defense burned House of Trade Unions)
 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5I9CoVVoqI
 * Одесса. Люди прыгают из окон горящего здания профсоюзов [02.05.2014] Youtube, 24:17 - "Odessa. People jumping from the windows of a burning building unions jump" (from Russian) mostly looking at the ground the whole time, but still some good evidence in there. Mykola (the shooter featured on RT) is seen briefly (0:50, 1:20 running, no leg injury there). plenty of fire bottles being thrown, mostly up and crashing off the building. Apparent shooting from the roof and fear of and talk of snipers, cheering and clapping at the fire 23:06. Injured and dead people with blood spatters below the windows before that. Car alarm goes off - someone jumping onto a car?

News reports

 * Odessa Massacre: 'Right Sector wouldn't let people out of burning building' – RT, May 2, 2014

Bodies

 * Russian Terrorists Burnt Alive In Trade Union Building Fire In Odessa Ukraine, May 2 2014 –  EuroMaidan PR , May 3, 2014

Crime scene

 * Одесса Дом. Кабинет 344. Что там произошло? (Odessa Building. Unions. Room 344. What happened there?) – ANNA News
 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGq2d1cgQ8c