Talk:Odessa Trade Union massacre/Clashes

Locations
(for new finds, searches, etc.) --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:30, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Timeline
Does Ukraine observe DST? All MH17 calculations presumed so, but ... Time and Date.com says Ukraine abolished standard time and opted to stay in permanent savings (summer) time in 2011, by vote of parliament. "Clocks in Ukraine were turned one hour ahead for the last time on Sunday, March 27, 2011," it says. Huh. Apparently was a Party of Regions move in consort with Russia (now switching back?) and Belarus. Kiev would presumably have changed this back to be more "European," but it's not refected at that page. Will continue to act as if. It's said Trade Union hall incursion was around 8 PM, and that's about sunset - using DST on, the NOAA solar calculator says sunset is about 8:00 that day in Odessa, instead of 7. Other thoughts? --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:30, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

From the Wikipedia Odessa clashes page:
 * A game scheduled in Odessa at 15:00 ... about 300 (pro-federalist) people gathered hours earlier -
 * Pre-rally at 14:00
 * first shooting around 13:40 --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:30, 25 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Considering the video timing below, these times might all be in GMT, 2 or maybe 3 hours behind local times I'd rather work with (sunset at 8PM base time - outting the rally at 4 PM) --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:43, 25 August 2014 (UTC)


 * 4:18-4:26: approximate time by shadows at the 10-minute point in the 20-minute Ustream video of the Unity rally and first clashes (azimuth estimate at 9:45 and 13:00 marks both about 251-253 degrees, elevation about 40 degrees? NOAA solar calculator (GMT +2, DST on) says that will be about 4:18-4:26PM. This would put the video's start amidst the rally around 4:10 PM, suggesting the game isn't until 1700 local, not 1500 (at least as I'm measuring here). --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:43, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

So this is some time into things, halfway between first clashes and the sunset massacre. But still, just around the corner from the first events. Hm. --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:30, 25 August 2014 (UTC)
 * 5:05 PM: 7-minute clash video - on Zhukova lane by the stadium (?) I paused it at 1:26 to consider the man at upper left's shadow relative to the pavement edge here, for a solar azimuth of about 261 degrees (nearly west) Approximate shadow length vs. height gives a solar altitude - an oddly low 30 degrees or so. Can those coexist at a single time? Yes. NOAA says 5:05 PM (17:05) is a great fit: az 260.96, El 29.85


 * UNHRC: "...between 6.00 – 6.30 p.m., (federalists) decided to take refuge in the nearby Trade Union Building."
 * 7:31 - first emergency call, fire in tent camp
 * UNHRC: "At 7.43 p.m., the HRMMU called the fire brigade..."
 * UNHRC: "At around 8.00 p.m., the “Pro-Unity” activists entered the Trade Union Building" (apparently earlier...) --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:31, 25 August 2014 (UTC))
 * 8:07 PM - sunset (per NOAA solar calc, GMT +2, DST on)
 * 8:09 PM: fire crews arrive, further delayed by the mob

Clashing Parties
Militant actors, listed in order of "who started it" (as understood - may change)
 * (clearly anti-Maidan by appearance - likely flase-flag provocateurs)
 * Unity Rally (includes all who were in and moved with it - reportedly attacked by the above and fought back)
 * Other Anti-Maidan (at the site of earlier clashes, and at the Kolukivo field camp and later inside the Trade Union hall, but not apparently on its roof - presumably legitimate unless they show contrary signs, like the red-armband guys do)
 * Kulikovo Attack Mob (anyone who stayed with the same march as it went almost 2 km off course to attack people only maybe connected to the earlier clashes should be considered a different group by then with a different flavor and mission) --Caustic Logic (talk) 06:13, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Red Armband Contingent
This shady-looking group is almost universally attributed, by people on each side of the issue, to the other side (see below, some "pro-Russian" people think these were their guys. The anti-Maidan sources call these Right Sector or similar, often noting that they're trying to appear "pro-Russian." Oriental Review report speaks of and shows "unidentified masked gunmen wearing St. George ribbons (symbol of antifascist resistance to Kievan junta!!!) and red arm-bands," and is pretty clear that they're more likely to be pro-Kiev extremists in disguise and acting as provocateurs. Meanwhile, Western mainstream and pro-Kiev reports describe these same instigators simply as the "pro-Russian" militants who, it seems, brandished the first guns,  drew the first blood, and sparked all the ensuing violence (which it seems was very prone to combustion and extended burning). And, as the other side notices, they visually seem to be the greatest beneficiaries of early police inaction. --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:33, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Consider this "Napaki" photo of a motley line-up in this camp (cropped a bit here from the usual view to give more face-space). Is it just this shot that makes them look so comical, more like they showed up to parody someone else than to be themselves? (It's no coincidence that's why I picked this shot to start with). Those silver shields clustered in front of them shields will be a couple dozen crouching policemen, although you can't tell from this angle. --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:33, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

The 7:00 clash video shows the same scene from above; this seems to be on north-running Zhukova lane where these militants and police are somehow in one group, being pelted and pushed back by others. Several red armbands, esp. early in the video, among those making barricades, and the fat rifleman in the photo above, at least, appears later, around 6:00 in. The scene is described more, with a view, below. --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:45, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Another video shows Right Sector shooting at the Trade Union Hall victims (per Washington's Blog and the video uploader anyway) However, it looks too early in the day to be the main event - mid-late PM, location unclear. And this is the murkier but crucial red armbands crew: the fat rifleman is the main shooter. These might be Right Sector people, but it's not known that they are, the finer details of their outfits suggest otherwise, and they're widely called otherwise. --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:33, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Real Borotba Members?
My own impression of these red-armband and allied thugs is of comical impersonators trucked in just to work up the mob. That said, there were at the time genuine anti-Maidan self-defense forces who look a bit like these guys. (details could be useful here...) and these should be expected to show up for such an event. Simply blocking a peaceful "pro-Unity" march doesn't sound like a very good PR move, but of course they'd be focused on the militant-ready right-wingers the rally had in its midst. It's just how they behave, the timing, the predictable effect it had, and how they apparently dragged all the effects so tragically to the peaceful center of Odessa's pro-Federalist movement and got it mass-murdered (see especially below). --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:29, 29 August 2014 (UTC) At least one presumably genuine anti-Junta source is on record vouching for at least some of the guys involved in the clashes (and sniper shootings, and hiding behind police, and provoking the mob into the Trade Union Hall? One hopes not...) --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:29, 29 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Alexey Albu, leader of anti-fascist ‘Borotba’ Odessa, who was severely injured in the later events at the Trade Union Building, reports that the men with the red armbands were his fellow activists of the "Defenders of Odessa". The activist of "Borotba" Ivan has got a gunshot wound into the belly from a military weapon. 

Maybe some were genuine and others injected themselves in their midst, or in whole other spots but with the same mark? This source doesn't say the guys shooting from behind the cops were Borotba - in fact, Borotbas were being shot, perhaps by those guys ... (Ivan not being a fatality, it wouldn't show on the list of fatal shooting, which seem to be pro-Maidan people, at first anyway) --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:48, 27 August 2014 (UTC).

Consider "Napaki" photo "A3" of one pro-Russian contingent seen in the area of the clashes. The fence almost seems to say Borotba (БОРОТЬБА) followed by a down arrow, spurring a thumbs-down from the "Unity" side ... a guy there with red bands, another on a roof, pointing (finger? gun?) at somewhere. And which type is this guy in {http://ukraineinvestigation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/82-Pro-Ukrainian-activists-capture-pro-Russian-separatist.jpg photo A10?] He doesn't look like such a clown, but then, he's been beaten up and captured. Apparently a couple dozen activists, presumably genuine ones, were cornered here in the Athena business center and arrested. That all stands out from their mobile and police-protected peers who worked so hard to spark the massacre. --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:29, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

I found the Borotba.org website, and saved the links to a few articles of the time (in Russian) that might provide a fuller picture of their understanding, especially as it evolved. At the moment at least, the site is unavailable, hopefully a glitch. But here are the links to articles that seemed to be related to events of May 2 in Odessa. --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:39, 29 August 2014 (UTC)
 * May 2 Отряды ультраправых устроили бой в центре Одессы. ФОТО
 * May 2 В Одессе при штурме здания на Куликовом Поле жестоко избит кандидат в мэры города Алексей Албу. ФОТО
 * May 3 Андрей Бражевский. Убит неонацистами 2.05.2014
 * May 5 6 мая в Киеве пройдет пикет памяти и солидарности с погибшими и пострадавшими в одесском Доме профсоюзов.
 * May 5 Вечная память коммунисту Вадиму Папуре
 * May 6 Кандидата в мэры Одессы Алексея Албу допрашивают в СБУ
 * May 9 Алексей Албу вынужден был покинуть Одессу опасаясь ареста или расправы
 * May 10 9 Мая Одесса отметила День Победы

The Economist, May 8: Odessa's fire examined: Ukraine's murky inferno
 * Several witnesses claim they saw Alexei Albu, a pro-Russian leader, directing people into the building. On Wednesday he denied this, but he did say that because the fire spread so quickly and killed so many he believes it was pre-planned.

Hm. That's Borotba's leader who claimed some red-armband guys as his own. Someone with a good knowledge of his face claims that same guy himself was one of the shady portion of those who crammed people in for the massacre, but this at least he denies. Why does that surprise me? It's claimed (by him?) he was injured there ... was Mr. self-defense just one of the sheep someone else herded in there to get injured? In that widely-ridiculed strategic decision? Safari still cannot find Borotba.org. Last we heard, they were claiming to be framed for some of the most crucial parts in the set-up. But this alleged leader - one version of him at least - sounds a little fishy himself. --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:57, 30 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Denial according to The Economist. No reason to believe a word of it until properly sourced. ;o) borotba.org has been offline since you mentioned it. Tried from time to time. --CE (talk) 14:47, 30 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Good point, but it could go either way - he vouches for the provocateurs and being at (and so likely leading defense at) the Trade Union hall, according to a statement on their website (I thought it was via Social Media, but still possibly to fake) while others blame him for leading that bizarre defense. (or allegedly, by the same source). I hope the real guy would deny it. But making up a denial could make him seem a little shady ... --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:14, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

Other tidbits I can find: His home was raided March 31 - the ohter Ukraine, June 21 essay intro - "Autonomous Workers Union" doesn't like them because they're "reactionary" so that's a plus. They "announce that “Borotba” union is not a part of our movement. During the whole time of this political project’s existence, its members tended to be committed to the most discredited, conservative and authoritarian “leftist” regimes and ideologies, which do not represent the interests of working classes in any way." Wikipedia page suggests they were strongest or most effective in Kharkiv. And it says
 * On May Day Borotba members staged a rally in Kovalska Street in Odessa.[17] The following day, Borotba member Andrey Brazhevsky was beaten to death by a far-right mob after jumping from the third floor of the burning Trade Union Building during the 2 May 2014 Odessa clashes.[18][19] A detailed eyewitness account of the human tragedy that occurred in and around the Trade Union Building in Odessa during the right-wing march "For unity of Ukraine" was published on Borotba's website.[20][21] Following the Odessa Trade Union building massacre and other attacks on Borotba's members and offices, Borotba was forced underground.[22][23]
 * The leader of the Odessian regional organisation of Borotba, Aleksey Albu, fled to Russian-annexed Crimea, where he founded a "Committee for the Liberation of Odessa" on the 24th of May 2014 together with a representative of the pro-Russian party Rodina ("Homeland"), Aleksandr Vasilyev, and a representative of the organization "Slavic Unity", Dmitry Odninov.[24][25]

Borotba founder Sergei Kirichuk speaks in later May "An attack on the activists of the march for the unity of Ukraine soon followed. The attackers were some unidentified people in masks and with ribbons made from red tape. They acted with tacit approval of Kiev-controlled police. And so, we should ask – who controls the police? Clearly, not the activists of the anti-government movement…" - There's a statement by Albu of May 21, and he had been running for Mayor of Odessa here in French. I'll check later, must run. --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:14, 30 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Excerpts from the May 19 letter (English-French-and-back)
 * The protest was peaceful and respectful of the law. We were not separatist, and we fought for a change of government in Ukraine, a unitary system too centralized federal organization. We wanted the regions have more authority... that would not engage in social genocide of its own citizens under the dictates of international financial institutions. We wanted to make our peaceful, quiet streets banning neo-Nazi gangs, such as Right Sector. With these slogans, I entered the campaign for mayor of Odessa as the candidate of the Kulikovo alternative...


 * I stress again, our mobilization was exclusively peaceful.
 * Indirectly, this refutes the allegation that the violent provocateurs were his red-armband guys. --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:31, 31 August 2014 (UTC)


 * On May 2, the junta responded to our peaceful protest by sending armed fascist sticks, balls and Molotov cocktails. Dozens of residents of Odessa were killed. The massacre was followed by arrests. My friends and I had to leave Odessa, because we were threatened with arrest or violence. Those who remained went underground. I had a meeting with my comrades in arms, and we felt there was more opportunity to participate in these bloody elections. The junta ruthlessly eliminates all democratic rights, in addition to repressive actions of the police and terror street neo-Nazis. In these circumstances, we can not run an election campaign or a legal political work.


 * On May 1, my friend, the regional adviser Odessa Vyacheslav Markin, had agreed to be my campaign manager. On May 2, he was killed. Neo-fascist patrols attacked our activists and beat them. The SBU (state security police) puts pressure on people close to me.

He goes on to say elections can't mean a thing in this climate and it's time for mass revolt. Nothing in here sounds fishy. He sounds sane, and does not make it sound like he was in charge or even present at the camp that evening as alleged. However a May 6 video from comments there suggests he was beaten in the head, somewhere, a couple days prior... - --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:31, 31 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Oh and on the contemporaneous attacks on Borotba's leftist credentials, a good if tedious critique here, most importantly noting "What is also very worrisome is that the accusations were put forward in a situation were Borotba were under deadly threat (and still is) in the new situation when facsist could act more in direct complicity with authorities and treatened the lives of Borotba members, storming their offices and stealing membership lists. This political terror ... those who live under more secure circumstances, should be careful before stating others as the main problem not seeing their own role in the emerging conflict. Yeah, timing your attack with Pravi Sector death threats makes you look real genuine struggle, doesn't it? Fake-ass "resistance" purists, same kind who find a reason to not oppose'' each and every imperialist war that emerges (of he's a bit religious, he ran a business, yadda yadda so we say what New York said) --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:55, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

Did Any Die in the Massacre?
(maybe, forthcoming)

Hrets'ka Street
Video: long UStream video (Youtube mirror) This video starts with rally in the park in Soborno Square (building: Odessa Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral?) - moves east towards the nearby stadium, I thought. Shadows at 9:00 in suggest around 4:20 PM, so the start is around 4:10 (rough estimates, +/- 9 min.) At the park's edge, on north-running Preobrazhens'ka street, a moderate police presence, with more just then rushing in to the east. Along the west side of the street, a line of apparently pro-government militants, all in camouflage, with matching (wooden?) shields, holding a neat line along the park's edge and flying Ukrainian flags. Everyone runs across the street and east down Hrets'ka Street towards the big oval-shaped building with the blue upper part (center in the inset composite view) that's actually "Business center "Gallery Athena" ("Afina")" from which sniper shooting is alleged. The arean is some blocks further east, so this is still the route to the football game. About halfway to the business center is a police line. There's a lot of trowing smoke bombs fram different directions, and unclear action that would need more analysis. --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:01, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Local photographer Petro Zamakis followed the clashes and took a ton of widely-used photos, starting with the Hrets'ka street incident. He claims the separatists had come from the south and positioned themselves near the Athena center. The police line was between the two parties, and the image above might show a Maidanista on the wrong side of the line running to his own side.

Zhukova Lane
A 7:00 clash video shows this incident from above; this seems to be on north-running Zhukova lane where these militants and police are somehow in one group, being pelted and pushed back by others. Some are seen running here from people largely wearing yellow and blue. They're making a show of taking shelter behind the cops, who let them. The militants are even pointing guns from behind them, if not firing (possible shots fired in audio, no expert). A composite view from several moments shows most of the relevant scene and at least 5 red armbands (right half). Points of note:
 * The militants make weak, useless barricades behind the police, and get seen moving things around as if they might be (a guy moves one tree inside a fenced area for no reason - 1:00 upper screen)
 * They aren't coordinating this with the police, very well - police trip over their trash bins while retreating
 * An interesting molotov cocktail with a flare in it (?) is hurled by the other side (lands 3:44, burns with extra energy 'til past 4:00 - this starts their retreat).
 * Several red armbands, esp. early in the video, among those making barricades (right in the panoramic image).
 * A heavyset (fat) guy in tank top with rifle, seen at left 5:55, is seen in the photo above, and also in the next video.
 * star shield - Soviet style? Genuine or parody? (2:16 lower screen, 6:30 left. center in the composite view above)
 * bald man addressing the police the whole video - emphatic gestures, at 3:00 getting upset with the stone throwers too - he's meant to be seen trying to make peace or something. --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:33, 25 August 2014 (UTC) and --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:09, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Time: I paused it at 1:26 to consider the man at upper left's shadow relative to the pavement edge here, for a solar azimuth of about 261 degrees (nearly west) Approximate shadow length vs. height gives a solar altitude - an oddly low 30 degrees or so. Can those coexist at a single time? Yes. NOAA says 5:05 PM (17:05) is a great fit: az 260.96, El 29.85. Estimate, then: 5:05 +/- 4 minutes. --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:07, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Petro Zamakis moved from the Hrets'ka clash to the northern Derybasivs’ka street., where "football fans and separatist had their own war. There were already casualtiesonbothsides. Ambulances took them to the hospitals non-stop." He took the photo used here of the red armband militants, along with several others (one showing Dmitri Fucheji working with them?) He saw what he thinks is the first molotov coctail thrownm as well as the rifleman firing an AK - both seemed harmless at the moment (all for show?). Further:
 * After that police forces joined separatist. Everything that was after did not make any sense. Police forces and pro-Russian fighters united and fought together. Police formed a live shield and fighters took active part in war actions. When it was necessary, police let the separatists come through, when pro-Ukrainian activists counterattacked, police let separatists to hide behind their backs. On one of the following photos you will see how police forces and separatists form a line together to cover the missing parts and strengthen flanks. Also, on another photo you will see a guy in camouflage with the mask on his face standing near commanding officer all the time.

Athena Center
A third confrontation was again on Hrets'ka (Greek) street, but further east around the shopping center "Athena" or "Afina," with pro-Russians holed up inside, snipers on the roof, some shooting, a burned business across the way, and dozens of pro-Russians finally arrested. Others flee south, reports say. Details/sources in time ... --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:28, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Kolukivo Field
This was of course a rather one-sided "clash," and I stand by our calling it a massacre. It's also way south and some time later than the others, requiring some whole change of formula that5 also gave time to reflect and cool down. But this apparently did not happen. The connecting portion, where the angered mob moves towards Kolukivo Polje (field) is not very clear by most sources. Photographer "Napaki" (aka Petro Zamakis?) followed the movement and took some photos that could help set the course and time. At its start:
 * Some time after pro-Ukrainian activists form a column and head to Kulykove Pole to destroy separatist camp. Tents and barricades have been there for months. Someone asks to leave the police alone.

Along the way, they smash election signs for Mikhael Dobkin or Party of Regions, and sing. --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:32, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

The Mob Arrives
' The or a first arrival of the mob can be seen briefly at 5:19 in the slick 17-minute PolitRussia documentary video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGaaCDb9g1U (wanted: more direct video source with fuller context). Anyone who got there before this cameraman and entourage didn't get anything burning yet, although it seems the camp is already emptired. No one just then running in the hall is seen; the activists' decision to shelter inside was already made, and they were in. No police doing anything at all are seen right here; if they'd been there, they left without any fight we can see a sign of. Was the decision to abandon them to the mob already made? --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:25, 26 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Adding to the above, not everyone was inside yet (see below)

The scene at 05:26 in this videos was useful to set a time by sunlight, as frozen, enhanced, and marked on the inset image of here: azimuth (what a sundial reads) is broadly 280-289 or time range 6:50 to 7:40, with a best middle (from a fuzzy shadow falloff line) about 284 = 7:12 PM. Solar altitude, read roughly (on the area in the green box), says a low 10 degrees or so. The azimuth reading is more solid, having a corresponding altitude of 8.25 degrees, but this may push it a tad up (earlier) - 7:11 +/- 5 min., to be adjusted for other clues. --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:25, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Short clips after that in the same video (6:02) suggests they wasted little time torching the camp and whatever flammable things (like signature lists for the referendum?) were in it. The first emergency call, reporting a fire in tent camp but not yet in the building, was at 7:31, according to transcripts obtained by public investigators and leaked to RT in August. This is clearly a no-later-than time.--Caustic Logic (talk) 13:25, 26 August 2014 (UTC)


 * I had forgotten about the famous compressed view from above (one Youtube posting) 0:33 shows the sun itself. Roughly placed so the rail station and trade union hall corners almost touch, sun just a hair north of that = 285-286 degrees = 7:18-7:25PM (those degrees make a big difference). However, that seems to be at least a couple of minutes after the above arrival, which I still might've time a little early. 7:15-7:20 seems a fair arrival time. Here too we can see, at the start, a snippet of the milling pro-federalism crowd moving into the building, at whoever's urging. At 1:25, almost looks like the "pro-Russian defenders" are still at the door and maybe starting to move inside, only as the whole tent camp just meters away is in flames, sometime after 7:30. Next scene after an edit they seem to be inside, and the rooftop "defenders" are shooting, I presume, from the crowd reaction at 1:39. --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:36, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

Trade Union Hall Guardians?
The pro-federalists are thought to have occupied the building well before the mob got there, and no one previously. Therefore, it's presumed, those on the roof are in their camp. These share the same red armbands and stupid provocation shown by the "pro-Russian" militants who started it earlier in the day. Various reports have them hurling down molotov cocktails and stones, and firing guns at the mob below, furthering the provocation and drawing the mob towards and into the building, as if to get up to the roof. The loyalty of these provocateurs is widely accepted, but the Kyiv Post did run one unusually level-headed and non-pay-walled repot citing two survivors retelling what they experienced, with minimal (but noticeable) distortions. This said:
 * Both Alyona and Tetiana say attackers ran inside the building in pursuit when the protesters took refuge on upper floors. They think there may even have been people who were not from their group inside beforehand. They both think those on the building roof throwing Molotov cocktails, clearly seen in video footage, were not from their group.

It's not spelled out that they would be part of the set-up to get the anti-Kiev activists murdered, just some other group, maybe genuinely on their side. Perhaps they were sort-of part of the group, agitated latecomers warning of the angered hordes coming this way? Did they magically have they keys to the locked building, and promise to use their militant skills to protect the peaceniks once they got inside? Did guys already inside or in this new group then get up on the roof? --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:07, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

It appears some seen earlier in the day, or people just like them, were also at the front door to greet the mob and remind them who they were after. Petro Zamakis (or "Napaki") was with this group, it seems, and reported:
 * When I reached Kulykove Pole, tents were still untouched. Pro-Russian separatists were building barricades in front of entrance and set their positions there.

The photo below, by "Napaki," shows these people had access to the front doors, one left open. This suggests they would be the last ones inside that door shortly, but with a last-minute barricade as well. Right here, they don't seem to have their thumbs in their ears taunting the "pro-Unity rally," but might as well be. They show the same sort of sloppy, useless, almost comical barricade building that was so annoying up north. They like the trash cans. And there they've found and included lost of bare, flammable looking wood, right at dusk. Perfect time for a fire somewhere, and here are those murderous thugs the police wouldn't let us touch earlier ... and a bunch of kindling with hated symbols piled suggestively right around the door. How on earth did these clowns get themselves appointed as defenders of the Trade Union hall and get people inside of it? This turn of events was perhaps the single biggest key to the massacre unfolding like it did. --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:07, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

From this barricade, Napaki reported "they started throwing smoke grenades." (photo) "A group of separatists was on the top of the building with prepared Molotov cocktails that soon will be thrown down." (photo) "I have no idea why separatist “commanders” made a decision to barricade inside the building and do not retreat further on as far as the most important part of the fight already took place in the center." He doesn't really know what was considered most important here. He includes a photo of the last "pro-Russians" to go inside, at the moment manning a slapdash barricade only right at the front steps, trying to look tough and scare the mob away with smoke. These may be people from the earlier clashes - the shield with a red star, or one like it, is here. More careful matching perhaps to come, but there's also a red-armband militant seen at earlier events and later dead in the TU hall. (details soon) --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:32, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

The compressed high-altitude video shows at the start, a snippet of the milling pro-federalism crowd moving into the building, or towards its entrance, at whoever's urging. At the 1:25 zoom-in, it appears the "pro-Russian defenders" are still at the door and maybe starting to move inside, only as the whole tent camp just meters away is entirely in flames, sometime after 7:30. Another video filmed by one of activists there, gives an inside view, if only short snippets and in poor quality (more original footage probably exists) Here we see to 0:11 late afternoon at the camp, preparing stones and barricades, but calm - by reports, this might be about 6:00-6:30 when they heard the mob was coming. At 0:12 a cut to whistling, possibly alarm as they arrive. Time: azimuth seems about 282? (278-85 range, from this segment)) - so about 7:00 (+/- 10 min) and people are still about, but tend to be moving towards the barricade and the doors. 0:18-0:27 is filmed from within the barricade but outside the building still, with the supposed defenders and a few assorted civilians, including a priest saying a prayer and blessing the space before him with a cross. All the tents are burning already. --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:55, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

After the next cut, the camera-person and many others are inside. We see from the stairs straight back and up, out the second floor window over the back (southwest) lot, which looks safe at the moment, and they should have been running out the back door and across that lot. The next scene is much later, and may be the same spot or, by the darkness outside and frequent molotov cocktails, it's at the other side's stairwell. The places is full of smoke, windows broken out, one window frame just then lit up with a bottle from below (here as another one flies by to the right), There seems to be no building-based sprinkler system helping here. One guy has a working fire extinguisher and gets the window fire slightly contained. That's the last scene here. --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:55, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

The Mob Enters the Hall
Apparently, the front doors were found locked.--Caustic Logic (talk) 12:07, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

Other key videos will be harder to time, as direct sunlight vanishes into the shadows some time before full sunset at 8:07 PM. But the UNHRC's estimated around 8:00 for the mob's entry into the building after the activists. This seems fair, being probably based on the one known set of videos ([Odessa Trade Union massacre/Denis Cherkasov Videos|from Denis Cherkasov]], the only person to of the many to release their footage from inside, briefly). Men with bats, chains, etc. pour in through a jammed open door on the southeast end, into a building that's been entered for some minutes before that, by an unknown other members of the mob. So whatever time this is, it's another no-later-than one. The sun is too low or blocked by the building, but it still seems pre-sunset. The inset shows the glow looking NW, the entrance on the southeast end, and a view through that door to a window facing NW. Further in, this shows one last band of direct sunlight on the upper wall in the stairwell (see 1:17) --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:25, 26 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Correction: that's a wall fixture light with motion blur. No more sunlight's coming in, so it must be pretty close to 8:00. --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:04, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

Howard Amos, reporting for the Guardian, put rescue efforts alongside acknowledgment that Right Sector entered the building, as part of its terrorist endeavor to cleanse the city:
 * Pro-Ukraine protesters made desperate efforts to reach people with ropes and improvised scaffolding. "At first we broke through the side, and then we came through the main entrance," said one pro-Ukrainian fighter, 20, who said he was a member of the extreme nationalist group Right Sector. ... "The aim is to completely clear Odessa [of pro-Russians]," said Dmitry Rogovsky, another activist from Right Sector whose hand had been injured during the fighting. "They are all paid Russian separatists."

A second point of entry can be seen in this Channel 1 video. I couldn't save a copy, but saved some stills, composited into the view at left. This is the southeast corner, near the other penetration point. Time is likewise unclear - well after the tents went up, burning perhaps a bit low (to the right) ... after 7:30, before 8:00. A stream of people, male and female, most with clubs in hand, stream inside (to help save people?) Woe to anyone trying to escape any fire this way. Note here at lower left the shirtless man with red-and-black (Pravi Sectory) maski mask. In the video it can be seen he's trying to string barbed wire (or razor wire?) between some low peg and the stair's railing. Who but a neo-Nazi would bring razor wire to a football match? --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:04, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

The UN's investigators agreed someone vaguely on the Maidan side entered the building chasing after the people hiding there. "At around 8.00 p.m., the “Pro-Unity” activists entered the Trade Union Building where the “Pro-Federalism” supporters had sought refuge. " The photographer and witness "Napaki" said the mob "continued storming the building, a few of them managed to get inside." The number is unclear, other than dozens at least. It could be hundreds. It got lively and loud in those halls of "refuge."

Consider, now, how reports that put the mob outside the building and the fire starting inside, allowed to some decide the separatists - the only ones in there - must have burned themselves. of One argument is that they tried to throw molotov cocktails outside on the Miadan people, but the window didn't break. The BBC's report is the widest-seen example:
 * It remains unclear how the fire started on the third floor. Pictures clearly showed pro-Ukrainians throwing Molotov cocktails towards the floor. But Serhiy said he saw someone "on the third floor throw a Molotov cocktail through the closed window. However, the glass didn't break and a fire started inside".

Indeed, video shows this too. It comes out as the credible cause for the, or a, fire - on that floor. The fire-tossers outside are friends with some of the people inside. The same report, in fact, acknowledges this oddly: "There was hand-to-hand fighting in the building." Yeah, some epic fight. --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:04, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

Police at Kolukivo Field?
Do we know, from video, reports, anywhere, what the deal was with police at this locale? Earlier in the day the cops were all over protecting apparent pro-Russian hooligans with red armbands, even as they shot people with guns. But here, there were more such guys on the roof, an angry mob who showed up, and ... no cops at all that I've seen yet. They appear soon-ish, at least, and help carry away those jumping out of windows to escape the mob or the fire the mob started. But where were they when the mob might still have been kept out of the building? --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:38, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Disturbingly, yes, police were there when the mob was there, roughly. From the UNHRC's June report:
 * 43. Some “Pro-Unity” politicians called upon their supporters to march towards the Kulikovo Pole square. At 7.00 p.m., the “Pro-Unity” supporters marched in that direction, accompanied behind them by approximately 60 riot police. 

They came with the mob, in the rear, not ahead of them. There was talk preceding the move, supposedly gotten to the tent camp by 6:300 or earlier that they'd better hid. But police just couldn't find any way to actually beat the crowd there?
 * 44. The “Pro-Federalism” leaders were informed that “Pro-Unity” supporters were heading towards the tent camp, and between 6.00 – 6.30 p.m., they decided to take refuge in the nearby Trade Union Building. 
 * 45. At 7.30 p.m., when the “Pro-Unity” supporters reached Kulikovo Pole square [sic], they burned all the “Pro-Federalism” tents.
 * I'm pretty confident they were there touching tents no later than about 7:15, for what it's worth. And 7:31 is a no-later-than for maybe something like 7:24. --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:15, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

Petro Zamakis followed the clashes and took a ton of widely-used photos. He explains at Kolukivo Field, "Pro-Ukrainians captured a pro-Russian activists and escort him to pass to the police. Police forces do not come to the square but do hide not far from the place." He shares a photo of them gathered nearby, with an officer that looks like Dmitri Fucheji (but wasn't he injured an unconnected to this?) --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:59, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

The photos included seem to follow the pro-Russian as he's escorted towards the cops - northeast across the paved square. This helps geo-locate the place where they gathered - just at the north corner of the square, near the giant pines, as as decided with Google Earth November 2013 imagery (inset). Over here, they're not exactly hiding, but not right in the open either, and certainly not stopping the massacre happening just meters away. The one man looks a little unhappy, and maybe threatening, to be seen by a good-quality camera. The officer next to him, giving spatial instructions to the riot cops looks quite a bit like Fucheji, though it's hard to be sure at such a distance. --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:42, 28 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: I probably did the graphic a bit wrong, on the camera and near wall end. Otherwise, that about where the police were. --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:11, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

this video of 12:30 length shows a line of riot cops, maybe a bit after this, now deployed at the hall's north end. They stand there like a human wall, which people just walk around with no concern. At 0:21 Mikola Volkov walks on-screen, stick in hand, regards the cops, and walks behind them. This is followed by quiet shot-like pops they do nothing about. Someone shouts Slava Ukraina * at the same time. This video starts after (apparent) sunset, likely as fire trucks first arrived at 8:09. Only at the end (12 minutes later) do we hear sirens and see the fire trucks finally getting close enough to help. --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:42, 28 August 2014 (UTC) * Slava Ukraina is their way of saying Allahu Akbar --Caustic Logic (talk) 14:00, 29 August 2014 (UTC)



Police Possibilities
Everyone wants to know what the hell was up with the police that day. This is sort of confusing to me, or maybe I just got myself confused. First, I sort of ignored the previous talk and just focused on what we can see, so far. There seems to be no police intervention to stop the culmination of the day's tensions at the Trade Union Hall. For about an hour, perhaps, it was a free-for-all there. But 3 hours before, as we can see in the clashes analysis below, the supposed anti-Maidan thugs were actively protected by the police as they shot people and provoked the tensions. Structurally, it seems the police were on the side of the tension and raising it. The beneficiaries of the massacre this tension caused was the Kiev government seeking to kill all talk of separation on Odessa. It did stop right after this.

Focusing first just on the early part where the cops were shielding the provocateurs, there are 3 main possibilities here for what the police were thinking at the time (possibly in some combination):
 * 1) They knew what they were doing: the widespread assumption of anti-Maidan thinkers seems likely; the police here were secretly pro-Kiev, acting pro-separatist, protecting Right Sector types in costume, to sow the rancor and then later, let it run its "natural" course.
 * 2) They were fooled: they were genuinely anti-Maidan/pro-Russia/whatever and thought the local anti-Fascists should be allowed to shoot at the other side. There's some support for this, actually
 * 3) No tricks: They really were protecting anti-Maidan militants: The provocateurs themselves were genuine anti-Maidan/pro-Russia/whatever and just stupidly set up the perfect provocation themselves (with police protection, withdrawn later for whatever reason...) There's even some evidence for this version.--Caustic Logic (talk) 11:02, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

They Knew
I've been working from, making a case for, this already, mainly looking at the other two ATM. --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:02, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

They Were Fooled
Arguably anti-Junta police, not yet Kiev appointees, would complicate the scene for plots like these. Odessa's police chief Lutsyuk was vocally opposed to ultranationalist mobs, at least, well before the day, and was fired immediately after the massacre for failing to stop the pro-Russians (see here, to be expanded). No sign he was on the scene and involved - he could be just worked around somehow with right-wing cops put in charge of the streets that day.--Caustic Logic (talk) 11:02, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

But his deputy Dmitri Fucheji was apparently right there, looking the other way - or famously the same way - as the red-armbands pointed pistols around. The ID from that (Reuters) photo isn't so clear, but other footage looks just like him too (inset, below). Like his boss, he too appears to be anti-Maidan/pro-Russia/whatever. Later, he fled to Transnistria (pro-Russian part of Moldova) and spoke to Russian media (see video. Via Antimaydan Odessa on VK, he blames Tymoshenko's deputy Dubogovo and his deputy who "secretly" ran the police and issued "instructions not to intervene, as well as to collect all the police leadership to "meeting" and discuss common issues behind closed doors with mobile phones switched off." That would put some people out of the loop. That would be Lutsyuk, and perhaps Fucheji himself, as these jackasses decided in calling him a liar. But as the VK post says:
 * Fuchedzhi claims he is one of the entire leadership of the Odessa Police was May 2 not in the office and on the street with people and tried to stop the violence, negotiated, tried to reconcile the conflicting parties. In addition, he reminded of the duty to other policemen who were inactive on orders from above. In response, he heard: "Orders are orders, Lutsyuk ordered not to interfere with him, and there is no connection." --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:48, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

One source, sounding generally informed, implicates Fucheli for running the Kiev provocation, but makes a point for his being a hundrance to the plot and, like others, removed from the field: However, this is a good space for anything on this, like this I just found:
 * The role of the Odessa police forces in the operation was personally directed by the head of the regional police, Petr Lutsyuk, and his deputy Dmitry Fucheji. Lutsyuk was assigned the task of neutralizing Odessa’s regional governor, Vladimir Nemirovsky, to prevent him from putting together an independent strategy that could disrupt the operation. Fucheji led the militants right to Greek Square where he was allegedly “wounded” (in order to evade responsibility for subsequent events). (Bloodbath in Odessa guided by interim rulers of Ukraine Oriental Review, May 14])

Or was he simply wounded by a shooter who didn't like his attitude, and should be considered off the hook for what came next? --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:02, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

I guess no one said he was shot, just injured. On the other hand, the third thumbnail at right shows a commanding officer near the burning and invaded Trade Union Hall after sunset, again looking a bit like him, as his police stand idly by in a different way. Maybe he was shot right after this by the same guy who shot Mikola Volkov? --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:18, 30 August 2014 (UTC).

No Tricks
It's possible these were real anti-Maidan "self-defense" militias, supported by the police in the same way as outlined above, but with no trickery involved. For example, the leader of local anti-Fascist group Borotba claims at least some of the people in red armbands (he implies all of them, but not specifically) were Borotba members or perhaps allied (See above ) --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:07, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

However, in my opinion, that doesn't come close to explaining how well the most visible and active parties wound up working into Kiev's plot to crush Odessa's independence movement that day with a provoked massacre. I think it's most likely the real counter-protest was hijacked by agents from the other side working in costumes and always taking the lead and misusing it towards just the end it all had. --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:07, 29 August 2014 (UTC)