File talk:Ukraine shooting directions 2.png

Partial Explanation: (originally assembled at a discussion forum) April 21 --Caustic Logic (talk) 00:21, 8 June 2014 (UTC)

Behind Directions - October Palace and Hotel Ukraine: Previously we noticed a tree that's hit from behind, either left or right seems possible to me ATM (see first half in this video). This could be either from the Hotel or the October Palace (OP). The latter was insurgent-held as of about 12:30, just in time to be potentially relevant to the sniper massacre.

Besides the possible tree shooting, Hotel-origin fire (west side) is suggested by a man who's shot and tips over from that direction (19:20 or so in the long video). Other victims are possibly hit on that line, but nothing definitive can be ventured with what I've found so far.

Forward Directions: The ? line is one possible angle for fire we can visually verify (in two instances of non-fatal shooting - one in the second half of the above video) that may or may not be distinct from the solid blue line to the "Ministers' Club" - the Ironic kid took a hit on about this line. So that's either one or two positions, more likely two of them.

The short, solid line to the Arcade Bank turret window, we have covered... the window's shape is in dispute and some here speculate it might be a giant hamster up there in the trees. Snipers don't usually shoot from inside giant hamsters, so this remains among the most serious challenges posed by the JREF resident skeptics. Nonetheless, I continue calling it a regular rectangular window of the exact shape usually in that exact spot.

Total: Three directions I call as evident on video, likely four, and possibly five.

Alleged Directions: These are all implicitly dotted with uncertainty. The pattern I noted earlier holds - for the weeks right after the incident, no one mentioned snipers at the hotel. It's not as obvious as I thought but still likely that there was significant fire from there involved, but it's now acknowledged as the primary "still investigating that" alternate sniper perch, highlighted in that Monitor program, etc.

Physical Marks: Until verified, I consider physical marks not seen happening on video (to my knowledge) in another category - possibly made later, possibly fake, but possibly relevant and so worth mentioning.

The Vorontsov study shows marks on tress that he thinks must have been from the direction of the OP's south end. I think these marks appear in videos of the day - see 21:26 in the long video, right side, for one spot. The candles in his photo apparently rest on that hump, and there's a reddish patch of torn bark just above that.

Vorontsov thinks the sniper was on the roof, but I doubt that. He'd be seen on video shot from the hotel without even trying. Much better to get under that roof, it you control the place, and shoot from a concealed position within the shadows behind a window frame. Lining up the possible trajectories, this could indicate a different building behind the OP, "higher ground near" it, or its southern end as suggested - the most likely being the smaller southern face itself, probably the eastern half/far corner of it. I'll leave this dotted for now.

(Vorontsov has other photos and angles I still need to consider in detail)

Monitor's expert Sergei has a laser trajectory through a tree injury pointing to a small area on the 10th floor or so of the Hotel, west half, inner face. Which tree this is from is unclear - it seems really splintered, but is shown too close-up (4:33). So I can't yet even try to verify this in the day's images. Stays dotted for now.

From BBC "investigation" BBC site - Youtube (orange lines in the graphic)
 * 1:18 - the mark shown in this ridiculous segment is worth a look, but is not in my immediate area of interest. It shows one direction or another of gunfire traded between the a high level of the hotel (same side Gatehouse here saw that green-helmet sniper in!) and the October Palace (same area he saw that from!). Make your own call how to read that mark relative to two holes precisely placed by a "sniper" in a street-level light pole, rather than into anyone's neck. At 2:15 their methodology is explained - standing in front of and mostly blocking a bullet hole on a wall of the October Palace, the lead talker says they're standing in the sniper positions to figure out, mainly, who in the old government to blame. take this mark, line it up with... something, and it points right to Yanukovych and his deputies!


 * 1:36 - clear shot, location ID - This is punched through a sign pole at the Metro station. It's a few meters south of the light pole I saw hit on video, at what seems a different angle. So this mark is not verified by that, or anything I've seen yet. The camera tries to show how looking through both holes, you see the balcony of the National Bank. I'll take Gatehouse's word on that, but it doesn't get to be solid blue based on this.
 * 2:08 - light pole opposite the bank punched through on a line right towards the massacre area. Also not the one I saw getting shot, exact spot unclear ATM, but the trajectory seems to be about the same (on about the ? line).
 * 2:12 - That we're looking south here (note the Arcade Bank's ornate cornice visible at right) means this tree mark evidences a shot from behind and to the right. I'll have to check the depth of view/decide which tree before I say this is clearly from the hotel.