Riots in Odessa on May 2, 2014

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The union building after the riot

The May 2, 2014 riot in Odessa was a series of clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian demonstrators in Odessa , in which 48 people were killed and more than 200 injured. It was the single most momentous event after the Euromaidan and outside of combat operations in Ukraine .

Course of the riots

"March of Unity"

The anti-Maidan activists protest camp on Kulikov Square in front of the union building in April 2014

A soccer match between Metalist Kharkiv and Chornomorets Odessa has been announced for May 2, 2014 . Supporters of both football clubs had agreed on a “march of the unity of Ukraine” to the stadium. This was also joined by supporters of various pro-Ukrainian groups, including veterans of the Maidan protests from Kiev, members of the Maidan Self-Defense Forces and the Right Sector . According to observers, some people were armed. A total of at least 2,000 people took part.

A tent camp of anti-Maidan / pro-Russian activists had existed on Kulikov Square since mid-April, about which Ukrainian human rights activists later published statements by those involved that the tent camp was financed by pro-Russian organizations or the Russian state itself.

About 300 armed pro-Russian activists gathered in the city center to attack the unit's march. The police had prepared a cauldron to separate the groups, but the activists escaped shortly before the cauldron, so that the situation quickly became confusing after the groups met and a street battle could last for over three hours. In total, there were six people who died during this phase as a result of gunshot wounds.

Attack on the pro-Russian tent camp in front of the union building

Demonstration in Odessa on Kulikov Square in front of the union building April 2014

After the pro-Russian activists dispersed, leaders of the “March of Unity” asked their supporters to march to the pro-Russian activists' camp in Kulikov Square. These withdrew to the nearby trade union building. About an hour later, pro-Ukrainian activists arrived at the camp and burned the tents. Subsequently, the pro-Ukrainian activists outside the union building and the pro-Russian activists inside the union building pelted each other with incendiary devices. Shots were also fired on both sides. In the course of the evening a fire finally broke out in the union building, so that the fire brigade was alerted at 19:43. Pro-Ukrainian activists tried to break into the union building at around 8 p.m., the fire brigade did not arrive until 40 minutes after the alarm was raised. At least 42 people died, 32 of them inside the building and 10 more while trying to jump out of windows. The police on Kulikow Square did not intervene.

Prosecution

Inside the union building after the fire

Ukraine initiated criminal proceedings and appointed several investigative commissions. Of around 100 activists, mainly pro-Russian, who were arrested or taken into protective custody, 67 were freed by pro-Russian demonstrators on May 4th. Clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church had called on protesters on Kulikow Square to march to the police headquarters and demand the release of the people. In November 2015, a year and a half after the riots, the Council of Europe criticized the investigations of the Ukrainian judiciary. According to his report, “no substantial progress has been made in the investigation”. They were neither independent nor efficient. In addition, the Ukrainian authorities lack the “necessary thoroughness and care”. In September 2016, the responsible public prosecutor said that some main suspects had been identified. In 2016, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights complained that the Ukrainian authorities had only started investigations against pro-Russian activists. In 2018 it objected to the ongoing unilateral investigation. As of 2020, no one was punished for the fire and the deaths there, and it is also not known who started the fire.

Reactions

The governor of Odessa Oblast , Vladimir Nemirowsky, ordered state mourning, but apologized for the pro-Ukrainian attackers by saying that their actions would not have violated any laws because "armed terrorists" (meaning the "anti-Maidan" activists) should have been fought . Russia described the event as "terror against the civilian population". The USA called for immediate de-escalation in view of the high levels of violence in Odessa. In a press release from the Federal Foreign Office , the then German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was dismayed by the "painful death" of dozens of people. Steinmeier also demanded that the terrible event should serve as a "wake-up call".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ivan Šimonović on the human rights situation in Ukraine - Security Council Media Stakeout (21 May 2014). Retrieved August 18, 2018 .
  2. ↑ "How did Odessa's fire happen?" BBC of May 6, 2014, viewed on July 2, 2015
  3. ↑ a b c Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine June 15, 2014. (PDF) June 15, 2015, accessed on August 18, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Odesa 2 May Suspect: We were financed by Moscow - Права Людини в Україні . In: Права Людини в Україні . ( khpg.org [accessed August 18, 2018]).
  5. ↑ a b Willy Fautré: Odessa 2nd May 2014 Tragedy. (PDF) Human Rights Without Frontiers Int'l, accessed on May 2, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Benjamin Bidder: Ukraine: The Shame of Odessa . Spiegel Online, November 4, 2015
  7. ^ Council of Europe: Council of Europe criticizes partisan investigations into violence in Odessa . In: ZEIT ONLINE . ( zeit.de [accessed on August 18, 2018]). Council of Europe: Council of Europe criticizes partisan investigations into violence in Odessa ( Memento of the original from August 19, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zeit.de
  8. ↑ Ukraine to involve European experts in investigation into May 2, 2014 Odesa events - Sep. 22, 2016 . In: KyivPost . September 22, 2016 ( kyivpost.com [accessed August 18, 2018]).
  9. ↑ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Accountability for killings in Ukraine from January 2014 to May 2016, Paragraph 25. ( PDF )
  10. ↑ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 November 2017 to 15 February 2018, Paragraph 54 ( PDF )
  11. ↑ Eike Fesefeldt: Not cleared up to date , Legal Tribune Online from May 2, 2020, accessed on May 2, 2020
  12. ↑ Benjamin Bidder: Dozens of burnt victims in Odessa: Deadly hatred. In: Spiegel Online. Retrieved June 24, 2015 .