Pro-Maidan activists Anti-Maidan activists[4][5][6][7] Oleksii Chornyi[12] Oleksandr Ostapenko[13] Andriy Yusov[14] Volodymyr Nemirovsky (until 6 May 2014) Ihor Palytsia (from 6 May 2014) Mark Hordienko[15] Sergey Dolzhenkov[7][16] Anton Davidchenko (until 17 March 2014) Grigory Kvasnyuk Pavel Kovalenko[17][18]Alexei "Foma" Fominov[19]Anton Rayevsky (c. March 2014)[11]Dmitry Odinov[7]Denis Yatsyuk[7]Alexey Albu[7] Post-Minsk II conflict Attacks on civilians Related In early 2014, there were clashes between rival groups of protestors in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, during the pro-Russian unrest that followed the Ukrainian Revolution.

[45] Confrontations between Euromaidan and Anti-Maidan protesters continued over the next month, and on 19 February, about 100 unidentified men wearing masks and helmets, and armed with baseball bats, assaulted a pro-Maidan demonstration.

[2] The Euromaidan protests culminated in the February 2014 Revolution of Dignity, when president Viktor Yanukovych fled the capital and was removed from office by parliament.

[61] A hand grenade was thrown from a passing car at a joint police–Maidan Self-Defense checkpoint outside Odesa on 25 April, injuring seven people, and causing heightened tensions in the region.

[32] 'Pro-Unity'[20] 'Pro-Federalism'[20] Claimed: Unknown Sergei Dolzhenkov[71][7] A detailed minute-by-minute timeline of events was compiled by "the 2 May Group", an organisation of 13 local journalists and experts who volunteered to investigate the tragedy.

Liquidation of the tent camp in this way the interests of all parties and should have happened without casualties or violent fightings: this way, anti-Maidan forces would have avoided the embarrassment of shutting the campo down themselves and instead be later able to claim that they were victimized.

[80] This rally was attacked by a 300-strong mob of Odesskaya Druzhina (Russian: Одесская дружина) members armed with bats and firearms at Hretska Street.

[83] Another circumstance which raised suspicion was that police officers put red adhesive tape around their arms, as did anti-Maidan protesters, to identify themselves (para.

[20] According to OmTV there were mostly air pistols and the first actual firearms use was by Antimaidan activist Vitaly Budko ("Botsman") who opened fire with an 5.45 mm AK-74 automatic rifle.

[65][67][36][94] A report by the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (UNIAN) said that the pro-Maidan crowd began to throw petrol bombs into the building after having been fired upon by the pro-Russian group.

[80] The high number of deaths may also have been caused by the delay in the emergency services' response, according to the International Advisory Panel of the Council of Europe and to the investigations by the 2 May Group.

[104][103] According to UN OHCHR report,[28] 42 people died in a fire that erupted in the House of Trade Unions: 32 from carbon monoxide poisoning, and 10 after leaping from windows to escape the flames.

[104] On Russian-speaking social networks and pro-Russian online platforms unconfirmed accounts claimed that some anti-Maidan protesters had been beaten, raped and killed in the Trade Unions House before the fire broke out.

[111] Images allegedly showing the body of a raped and strangled pregnant woman widely circulated on the internet and occasionally made their way into the academic literature.

On 3 May, First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Vitaliy Yarema, noted that people "died suddenly, very quickly" due to the burning of "a certain substance that emitted gas.

"[114] On 6 May, then-presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko told journalists about a closed session of parliament where evidence was presented that "toxic substances" had been placed in the Trade Unions House to facilitate an increased death toll,[115] and that the events were organised in advance by Russian and local officials.

[116] At a press conference on 15 May 2014, Ivan Katerynchuk, Head of the Ministry of Interior Office in the Odesa Region, denied that any gas had been used to poison those inside the Trade Union Building.

According to them, in order for several dozen people to be poisoned to death with chloroform even in a relatively small room, "it must be spilled in extremely large quantities - many tens, if not hundreds of liters.

[122] Originally a protest, the events later turned violent when masked demonstrators with improvised weapons started breaking windows, and forcing gates open.

[123] A rally of several hundred pro-Maidan activists marched to the site of the fire, raised the Ukrainian flag from the central flagpole, and observed a moment of silence for the victims.

[124] In response to the conflict, Odesa governor Nemirovsky announced the formation of a 'territorial defence battalion' of the army and would be recruiting to quickly restore order in the region.

[citation needed] In September 2017, the Chornomorsk town court of Odesa Oblast concluded that all 19 people accused of participation in the clashes on Hretska ploshcha, are not guilty.

[128] UN OHCHR reported in 2018 about the lack of progress in investigations into harassment of and pressure on judges dealing with the mass disorder cases by Euromaidan activists, despite the identification of some alleged perpetrators by victims or witnesses.

"Subversion in the Ukrainian city of Odesa that was financed by former top officials targeted at disrupting stability in the south of Ukraine," said Kateryna Kosareva, SBU press spokeswoman.

[128][138] According to the United Nations OHCHR, the prosecution failed to ensure the presence of witnesses and, after a year of hearings, requested to recuse the panel of judges.

After the judgement was pronounced, SBU immediately re-arrested Mefedov (along with a Ukrainian citizen Dolzhenkov) in the courtroom, on charges of "trespass against the territorial integrity of Ukraine".

"[148] The Foreign Ministry Andrii Deshchytsia stated that "there is every reason to believe that the tragedy was an action planned in advance and generously paid for by the Russian special services, the purpose of which was to provoke an explosion of violence in Odesa and destabilize the situation in the entire southern region of Ukraine."

"[152] Russian Federation – Russia's Foreign Ministry said that the fire was "yet another manifestation of the criminal irresponsibility of the Kyiv authorities who indulge insolent radical nationalists ... which are engaging in a campaign of physical terror", against those wanting 'greater autonomy' living in Russian-speaking regions.

[154] Bulgaria – Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin condemned the Odesa clashes "in the strongest possible terms" and expressed condolences to the victims' families.

[163] Odesa's mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov was re-elected in 2020 despite accusations surfacing in the Panama Papers that he had laundered money for Ukrainian crime syndicates in London and the British Virgin Islands listing his address and nationality as Russian.