A map based on selected videos and comments with background
The sequence of events February 19 – 21
One of the controversial issues concerning the change of power in Kiev is what happened during Thursday 20th of February. The general picture of this day was the result according to Washington Post on the 23rd of February: ”of a sequence of events that began late on Wednesday with the seizing of an Interior Ministry armory in the western city of Lviv and the transportation of those weapons to the outskirts of Kiev, the capital.” The report continous: ”Andrei Levus, deputy head of the Maidan ’self-defense’ forces, the umbrella organization of militant activists fighting the government, knew he had reinforcements on the way. … the square was about to look different. There would be more people, and they would not have had empty hands. Despite the dwindling of the protective fires, the protesters decided to hold on to the square long enough for both sides to consider the significance of the arrival of the weapons in the capital. Using a member of Parliament as an intermediary, Mr. Levus opened a line of communication with a deputy interior minister, whom he declined to name.”
The story continous by the words of Levus: ”We understood they had a few hundred fanatical riot police, but the rest of the police would not fight,” … ”Several street fighters who were on the barricades early Thursday morning said that they saw police officers walking away from their positions, and that this emboldened them. Some protesters fired hunting rifles and shotguns. Police lines crumpled.”
”Our people are ideologically motivated, and on the contrary, they were demoralized” Levus said. ”They did not want this fight. And he understood that our people were ready to run against gunfire.”
Now the day with the highest death toll during the three month uprising starts, most killed by snipers. It can be argued that the sniper killings were not decisive. With the stolen weapons from the armory in Western Ukraine a shift in the power balance between the forces had already taken place. Levus is able to put pressure on both the interior minister – ”I told him, We will guarantee the safety of the police if they leave the city.” These negotiations resulted
in a cease-fire and with support from some members of Yanukovych’s Party of Regions put under pressure, Parliament voted to support the protesters demand that the police demobilize.
Meanwhile president Yanukovych had begun discussions with the opposition and the European mediators. A date was set for him to resign after pressure by phone from President Vladimir Putin of Russia according to New York Times. ”That made everything possible.” according to Polish foreign minister Sikorski.
New York Times continous their description of the course of events: ”At the same time, the police and Parliament had their own deliberations underway. … the protesters fighting groups held talks with individual police commanders about how their officers would withdraw, in keeping with an earlier resolution by Parliament calling on the riot police to stand down. ”We negotiated with the commanders of different units”. Levus said. ”They called and asked simply to be allowed to safely leave the city. We made a corridor, and some buses were escorted by our cars.”
”By late Friday afternoon, just as the European diplomats were leaving the presidential offices after the signing of the peace deal, police officers at the most sensitive positions around Mr. Yanukovych’s office compound and the Cabinet of Ministers building were withdrawing.
When the protesters in Independence Square heard the details of the deal, they made clear it was a nonstarter. Furious that Mr. Yanukovych would be allowed to stay in office until December, the crowd chanted, ”Out, bandits,” and ”Death to the criminal.” Volodymyr Parasiuk, a leader of one of the fighting units, took to the stage and announced that his men would begin armed attacks if Mr. Yanukovych had not resigned by morning.
By dawn, well-organized groups of protesters armed with clubs and shields, but not guns, were already swarming toward Mr. Yanukovych’s offices, the Cabinet of Ministers building (the headquarters of the government) and Parliament. With the police forces gone, they met no resistance.”
This was the picture given by the main stream US newspaper of the course of events. The snipers were not mentioned, but that 80 people were killed. (later information states 53) This detailed account shows clearly how the armed ”self defence” groups were able to demoralize the government and the police by commitment to their cause with violence including rifles and the threat from substantive number of new weapons coming in. By now this has been forgotten. It shows clearly that the agreement made between the opposition and the government also signed by EU foreign ministers and negotiated with the help of the Russian president was nullified before it was signed by a de facto coup d’etat.
Many observers claim that the composition of the demonstrators at Maidan was very broad. The great majority of the people necessary for organizing the sustained rebellion did not sign onto the right wing extremis strongly present in the Right sector that dominated the self defence groups. Without them the violent self defence groups could not have been able to attack the governmental quarters. But it is also true that without the strength of the right wing extremists the violence which was used by the self defence groups could not have reached such an intense level that the police would have been defeated. Nor would conquering the 1500 or so weapons by the storming of the armory in Western Ukraine had been possible without the strong influence of the fascist and nazi organizations in this region. The Svoboda party and the right extremist militia now turned into a political party may be stated as having a small number of followers and yet they played a decisive role in the shift of power. But they were not alone.also key polirical figures from the Fatherland party played crucial leading roles in the violent self defence of Maidan as Parabuyi, one of the top commandants of Maidan and now head of the National Security Council.
The Kiev snipers
The fact that most people killed on Thursday 20th of February were killed by snipers has been an issue for debate since the live sendings during the shooting. Here an attempt is made to gather some links on the issue and with the help of this material draw a map of what happened during the most intense hours. First the videos will be presented in the order they were published. Than as a summary some tentative remarks are made about the sequence of events and what we can know about the snipers.
BBC documents a sniper in Hotel Ukraine held by the opposition
In this video the BBC reporter with a videocamera on the street identifies what window a sniper inside the Ukraine Hotel is using. The sniper is dressed in the customary Maidan self defence group clothes with a green helmet. Published February 21.2.
The video sstarts telling the protesters try to retake ground. They actually advance towards the governmental blocs along the Institution street. The desiption on the offcial BBC youtube page: Snipers were reported to have fired on protesters, and some armed demonstrators were also reported to be firing towards security forces. Reporting for Newsnight, Gabriel Gatehouse said he saw what looked like a protester shooting out of a window at the BBC’s Kiev base, the Ukraine Hotel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQhuD4F1yJ0
The longest video
This is the most viewed video from the Institution street with a camera team that at the frontline follows the protesters when they advance from below the Ukraine Hotel up towards the governmental quarters. Many get killed and dragged back while new protesters continous the fight and build barricades. Also medics helps the wounded, at times unprotected.
The sharp shooters on the ground
Police dressed in black shoot with in the direction of the protesters lying on grass along the Institutions street. This can be seen in several videos including the BBC video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQhuD4F1yJ0 at 1:21 into the clip.
The court yard identification
The special police unit at a yard carry sharp shooting guns to a van. Some are identifiable. Four still pictures are published.
The first police shooting
Footage showing how the special police unit shoot in the direction of the protesters. How bullets hits the grass producing a smaller earth cascade ´some meters in front of the protesters is clearly seen. The protesters stop their advance towards the governmental bloc and start moving back. Noone seems wounded and noone falls to the ground in contrats to the long video were many protesters get killed.
This is included in a longer compilation of several footages:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H8lwazZWic
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X71PxGCJHFI
The video is a compilation of several videos including some from the lobby of Hotel Ukraine.
Published March 2:
Blutiger Maidan 2014.02.20
Кровавый Майдан 20.02.2014, ГДЕ ПРАВДА???!!!
Die Ereignisse in Kiew am Unabhängigkeitsplatz am 20. Februar 2014
Der Autor unterbreitet seine eigene Analyse des umfangreichen Videomaterials
das die Mainstreammedien ignorieren.
Die wichtigste Frage – Wo liegt die Wahrheit?
AntikriegTV 2
Antikrieg TV http://www.antikrieg.tv
http://www.facebook.com/antikriegtv
ANTIKRIEG.TV Deutschsprachige Medienbeiträge sowie ins Deutsche übersetzte, ausgewählte Beiträge z.B. von Democracy Now (USA), Russia Today, Telesur (Lateinamerika)
Gleichzeitig empfehlen und verweisen wir auf deutschsprachige Nachrichtenseiten, wie Weltnetz.TV, Kontext TV, Hintergrund, Junge Welt, Nachdenkseiten und Beitrage der Occupy Bewegung
BBC shift sniper focus from opposition to government
In this video the same reporter from the day of the shooting comes back to the Institution street when British forensics examines how bullets have hit the protesters. This time is the sniper poition in the Hotel Ukraine not mentioned. All focus is upon sniper positions more far away on the balcony of the Central Bank and the opposite building on the other side of the Instutions street as well as at police barricades on the street. The angle of a shot that hit a tree shows towards the Central bank building. The reporter do not mention that the Central Bank is the last stand for governmental forces protecting the ministries and the parliament in next bloc. Published February 24.
”Gabriel Gatehouse, reporting for BBC Newsnight, speaks to British forensic experts as they work out where snipers were positioned during the Kiev bloodshed in Ukraine.
Independence Square was the scene of deadly clashes between protesters and police and there was shooting from both sides.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26333141
The Ukraine Hotel
Footage inside the Hotel Ukraine from upper floors with snipers identfiable in a room with an open window and rifles. Russia Today published during the fighting. Included in the Voice of Russia video link below.
The Philharmonic concert hall
A still with a sharp shooter and alleged team of 20 sharp shooters in special uniforms using the Philharmonic Concert Hall for shooting towards the Institution street. In the video with an interview about the story the shot against the window of the Russia Today reports room in Hotel Ukraine is included visualizing that the bullet could most likely came from the roof of the Philharmonic building. The building was controlled
”Snipers, who were killing people during the Euromaidan, were situated in the building of philharmonic society. At a point in time, the building was controlled by Andrey Parubiy, commandant of the Euromaidan, Alexander Yakimenko, former Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, told Rossiya 1 Russian TV channel. He thinks that Parubiy contacted with the US intelligence representatives.”
„Snipers shot people from the building of philharmonic society, which was controlled by commandant Andrey Parubiy. These people attacked Ukrainian law enforcers, who were demoralized and fled, because snipers were shooting them,“ Alexander Yakimenko said.
Read more:
The EU phone call
One especially explosive conspiracy theory emerged Wednesday in a leaked phone call between EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and her Estonian counterpart, Urmas Paet.
The tape, which the Estonian foreign ministry confirmed was accurate, features Paet outlining a conversation with a woman named Olga, who told of evidence showing that police and demonstrators alike were killed by the same bullets.
“So there is a stronger and stronger understanding that behind snipers, it was not Yanukovych, it was somebody from the new coalition,” Paet says.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEgJ0oo3OA8
Pate admits trhe phone call is accurate: „It is extremely unfortunate that this wiretapping was conducted. It’s not an accident that this conversation was posted (on the Internet) today,“ Paet said. Earlier, he said that the conversation with Ashton took place last week, immediately after the head of the MFA’s return from Ukraine to Estonia.
Questioning some of the content:
http://louisproyect.org/2014/03/08/a-reichstag-fire-in-kiev-not-so-fast/
The governmental investigation
The governmental investigation presents that 12 special police Alpha unit has been identified accused of being snipers. The names are not presented. It is also stated that several sniper psoions have been identified but not which. Accusation that Russian FBU had trained the unit is also brought forward. No evidences are presented. The investigation also states that not all snipers have been identfied.
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-ukraine-feud-over-sniper-carnage-203319580.html
Associated Press article showing different ways that Ukraine and Russia blames the Ukrainian government, Ukrainian Maidan organizers and Russia for the snipers mass killings. Furthermore the aryicle claims. ”Forensic evidence, in particular the similarity of the bullet wounds, led him and others to conclude that snipers were targeting both sides of the standoff at Maidan — and that the shootings were intended to generate a wave of revulsion so strong that it would topple Yanukovych and also justify a Russian invasion.” Published March 8.
Global Post summarizes different sources in the article Who were the Maidan snipers?
Reconstruction of the course of events and the map
A first advancement of protesters along the Instutions street is met by shots from the special police unit dressed in black. One footage shows that a shot hits the soil in front of protesters and protetsers withdraw without having been shot to the gorund. This is marked on the map with triangles white inside with yellow frame for protesters and blue for police.
During the second advancement towards to governmental blocs most killings take place both of protesters and policemen, allegedly killed by snipers. The new government talks about sniper psotion both in the governmental blocs and Hotel Ukraine as well as the street. The former head of the security police also talks about the Philharmonic Concert Hall. Allt the sniper psotions are indicated on the map with large arrows. Yellow for sniper psotions in building held by the Euromaidan opposition and blue for sniper positions in governmental bloc buildings. There is the possibility that snipers from unknown sides can have entered the buildings congtroleld by the Maidan opposition.
Smaller white arrows indicate the direction of the police on the hill of the cultural center after being shot. Smaller yellow arrows indicate the direction of the protetsers while advancing towards the governmental bloc. Cross marks indicate where people fell to the gorund after being shot, yellow for protesters and white for policemen.
The map only includes information from the videos listed above. There might be additional information of relevance showing more places were people got killed. This is indicated by the statements that also bystanders were killed.
