Russian Information Agency Novosti
May 7, 2014
Russia’s Lavrov Vows to Cast Light on Odessa Carnage Calling it ‘Clear Fascism’
MOSCOW: Russia’s Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov has pledged to shed light on all the uncomfortable truths about the Odessa massacre last Friday, which killed scores of peaceful pro-federalization protesters in the southern Ukrainian port city.
“What happened in Odessa on May 2 is clear fascism. We will not allow the facts to be swept under the rug like the ruling coalition is presently trying to do by closing the investigation from the general public,” Lavrov said at a flower laying ceremony for Victory Day in Moscow.
The regime in Ukraine has been accused by the Odessa Council officials of hushing up the real death toll of the arson fire at the local trade union hall that was caused by a raving pro-coup mob laced with the Right Sector militia hurling Molotov cocktails into the building.
A paramedic that was among the first responders later said that the attackers had stopped ambulance teams from reaching the survivors who managed to flee the deadly blaze.
“We will push for the truth, we will push so that all of the evidence that was given by witnesses and tell the story of the magnitude of the tragedy that is being consciously hushed by the authorities, so that not one piece of truth remains uninvestigated and that it is all made public,” Lavrov said.
The clashes in Odessa broke out last Friday between pro-federalization activists on one side and fans of the Odessa and Kharkiv football teams on the other, joined by Euromaidan activists.
Pro-Kiev radicals blockaded the anti-government protesters in the House of Trade Unions and set it on fire. At least 46 people died, three went missing and 214 were injured in the Odessa clashes, according to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry. On Monday, a member of the Odessa regional council told RIA Novosti that Ukraine’s interim authorities were hiding from the public the true death toll in Friday’s tragedy in in Odessa, which actually claimed 116 lives.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the events a result of the «criminal irresponsibility of the Kiev leadership indulging insolent nationalist radicals, including Right Sector, who are staging a campaign of physical terror against supporters of federalization and real constitutional changes in Ukrainian society.”
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Russian Information Agency Novosti
May 7, 2014
Russia’s Lavrov Calls Odessa Tragedy Testimony to Rise of Fascism
MOSCOW: The recent tragedy in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa demonstrates Europe’s willful ignorance of the rebirth of fascist ideology, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.
“For years Europe has closed its eyes on the fact that this [fascist] ideology is gaining new backers, its supporters are enlisting new followers, holding marches in honor of former SS individuals who were convicted criminals by the Nurnberg Tribunal,” Lavrov said at a flower laying ceremony for Victory Day in Moscow.
“But this is happening now, this is not just simply marches with banners praising Nazi criminals, it is already the appearance of live fascism,” he added.
The comments were in response to the tragedy last Friday in Ukraine’s Odessa, where scores of peaceful pro-referendum protesters were burned alive inside a trade union hall.
Earlier, a Kiev-based reporter with the Voice of Israel, Edward Dox, told RIA Novosti that Nazism and anti-Semitism had been a growing problem in Ukraine ever since the regime in Kiev seized control of the country.
Dox said the new government didn’t even try to dissociate itself from the heritage of Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera. Those in power in Kiev, especially from the Svoboda and Right Sector parties, frequently employ anti-Semitic rhetoric, he added.
With the presidential campaign in Ukraine in full swing, a slew of Ukrainian presidential candidates have been actively propagating their far-right views.
Presidential hopeful Oleh Tyahnybok is an active promoter of the ultranationalist ideas of Bandera, who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II in the wartime ethnic cleansing of Poles, Jews and Russians.
Dmitry Yarosh, who is also one of the presidential candidates, heads the Right Sector radical nationalistic movement, which was an important force at the Euromaidan protests in Kiev.
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Russian Information Agency Novosti
May 7, 2014
Odessa Tragedy Planned by Authorities’ Representatives – Kiev Official
KIEV: Last Friday’s massacre in Ukraine’s Odessa that left more than 40 people dead was a well-coordinated and planned operation with the participation of representatives of the authorities in Kiev, Ukraine’s acting Prosecutor General Oleh Makhnitsky said Wednesday.
“This action was not prepared at some internal level, it was a well-planned and coordinated action in which some authorities’ representatives have taken part,” Makhnitsky said.
Makhnitsky promised to reveal the names of those who took part in the tragedy that occurred in Odessa.
On Friday, 46 pro-federalization activists died and over 200 others were injured in a fire after being trapped in the trade union building in Odessa that was set ablaze during a clash between anti-coup activists and pro-regime supporters in the city.
The skirmishes were the bloodiest episode of violence in Ukraine since the start of the Ukrainian crisis in February. On Wednesday, the first refugees from Odessa arrived at Yevpatoria in Russia’s Crimea.
Crimean officials said the two families had been witnesses of the tragedy.
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Russian Information Agency Novosti
May 6, 2014
Ukraine Regime Covering Up Odessa Death Toll – Regional Councilman
MOSCOW: Odessa regional councilman Vadim Savenko has accused the Ukrainian interim government of covering up the true death toll of last week’s Odessa arson fire that allegedly killed 46 people.
The official said the actual number of people who perished in the trade union hall blaze stands at 116, with many more reported missing.
“According to our present assessments, there were 116 deaths … because, apart from the official number of 46 victims, many people are still unaccounted for. And we know exactly what happened to these people. They were simply put on the ‘missing’ list,” Savenko told RIA Novosti in an exclusive interview.
The Odessa official said at least 20 anti-coup protesters had been killed in the clashes prior to the arson incident, and their bodies had been brought to the trade union center.
Savenko stressed that figures circulated by the media over the past few days had been provided by the Ukrainian Interior and Emergency Ministries, and their account of the event still leaves much room for doubt.
“For two days, they barred journalists and relatives from coming to identify the bodies. We can assume they spent this time covering up the crime that had been committed there.”
One of the photos uploaded to the Internet after the Odessa massacre showed one of the victims was a pregnant woman, who had been suffocated. “If you look at how the bodies lay there or at their wounds, you’ll notice bullet holes in their heads and pools of blood underneath,” Savenko noted.
“The majority of the people [who were blocked inside the trade union hall] have scorched torsos, heads and shoulders …They had gasoline poured over them after being shot dead and set on fire in a cover-up operation,” he told RIA Novosti.
Last Friday, Ukraine saw the bloodiest violence since the February overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych, with dozens burnt to death inside a blocked House of Trade Unions in the southern port city of Odessa.
The clashes in Odessa broke out between federalization activists on one side and fans of the Odessa and Kharkiv football teams on the other, joined by Euromaidan activists. The anti-government protesters sought refuge inside the building that was then set on fire by pro-Kiev radicals.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the events a result of the “criminal irresponsibility of the Kiev leadership indulging insolent nationalist radicals, including Right Sector, who are staging a campaign of physical terror against supporters of federalization and real constitutional changes in Ukrainian society.”
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