Death Toll in 2014 Odessa Massacre Exceeds Reported Numbers - Ex-Odessa City Council Member

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The May 2, 2014 massacre, when hundreds of pro-Russian protesters were trapped inside a burning building, left at least 51 people dead, and not 48 as it has been widely reported, former member of the Odessa City Council Vasily Polishchuk told Sputnik.

On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian nationalists locked protesters against the February 2014 events in Kiev, referred to as Maidan, in Odessa Trade Unions House after clashes and set the building on fire. Polishchuk witnessed the events and later investigated them.

"I have 100% information that at least 51 people died, not 48 as everyone writes, and about 230 were injured. Only an honest investigation will show the exact number," Polishchuk said on the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.

In November 2013, a series of protests, dubbed Euromaidan or simply Maidan, broke out in Ukraine due to the authorities' decision to halt policy aimed at integration with the European Union. The unrest quickly took on a sharply anti-presidential and anti-government character. During clashes between Ukraine's security forces and demonstrators, more than 100 people died. The protests eventually turned into a coup and resulted in the ousting of then-President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. It also resulted in the estrangement of Ukraine's eastern Donbass region and the subsequent offensive against it by new authorities in Kiev.

The clashes in Odessa became one of the deadliest events during the Maidan and anti-Maidan demonstrations in Ukraine. Moscow has on many occasions criticized Kiev's negligence in the investigation of the deadly tragedy and urged the international community and human rights groups to probe the causes of the massacre.

Turning Blind Eye on Atrocity

The Ukrainian authorities provided the Odessa police with an alibi ahead of the May 2, 2014 massacre, when hundreds of pro-Russian protesters were trapped inside a burning building, former member of the Odesa City Council Vasily Polishchuk told Sputnik.

On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian nationalists locked anti-Maidan protesters, who opposed Euromaidan and Ukraine's rapprochement with the European Union, in the Odessa Trade Unions House and set the building on fire. Almost 50 people died, and many others were injured in clashes with the radicals, the United Nations estimated. Polishchuk witnessed the events and later investigated them.

"On May 2, then-Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General Mykola Banchuk arrived in Odessa. At 12:00, he gathered all law enforcement officers, executives in the regional prosecutor's office, on Pushkinska Street. He ordered them to turn off mobile phones and held a meeting about the fight against separatism. For what? So that the police, who should ensure the protection of public order, their leaders, would not interfere with their [Ukrainian nationalists'] special operation. He provided them with an alibi," Polishchuk said on the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.