On May 4 2014 I wrote about the February coup aftermath in Ukraine:
Two days ago a mob, supported by the fascists Right Sektor, killed over 30 federalist Ukrainians in Odessa by pushing them from their camp into a building and then setting fire to it. Those who escaped the massacre, not the perpetrators, were rounded up by police. Today pro-federalism people besieged the police headquarter in Odessa until the police released those it had earlier arrested.
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The U.S. plan for Ukraine seems to be to bait Russia into an occupation. This would destroy EU-Russia relations, embolden NATO and help the U.S. to keep the EU as a secondary partner under its control. There would be lots of economic upsides for the U.S. in such a situation. Selling more arms and increasing energy market shares are only the starters.
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There are two reasons to believe that this plan will fail:
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Without Russian intervention and without German support the U.S. campaign against Russia is unlikely to reach its secondary target of isolating Russia. The primary target, Sevastopol harbor in Crimea, was already lost when Russia reunified with the island.
What is left to do then for Washington is to create more chaos in Ukraine and to hope that somehow out of total chaos some new chance may arise to stick it to Russia. For lack of real direction that strategy is also unlikely to succeed.
I was unfortunately wrong with the last sentence though it took the U.S. eight more years to succeed.
But it is the first paragraph I what to refer to today. The current two most popular pieces on the website of Strana are echoing it (machine translation):
From the first story (machine translation):
Demyan Ganul, who was killed today in Odessa, is a well-known radical activist, a native of the “Right Sector”. Later he founded his own organization “Street Front”.
Ganul was known since 2014, when he participated in the events of May 2, when dozens of people were killed in the House of Trade Unions. Later, he organized actions against Odessa residents, who laid flowers in honor of the burned-out anti-Maidan activists.
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Ganul is also widely known for fighting in Odessa with “imperial” and Soviet monuments – to Catherine, Pushkin, and Soviet soldiers. He disrupted concerts of Russian performers, and also harassed residents of the city who spoke out for the Russian language.
Recently, Ganul actively “fought” against those who criticized the mobilization.
The most scandalous case occurred this summer, when Ganul beat up an Odessa fitness trainer after he criticized the recruiting office. After that, the coach disappeared and ended up, presumably, in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where he was bullied and probably raped.
Ganul himself, as far as is known, did not fight and was engaged in volunteering. But not without scandals. In 2023, he was beaten up, as reported, by the military of the “Foreign Legion” – because Ganul collected money for a car, but did not give it away.
Ganul celebrated each anniversary of the May 2 massacre by posting pictures of himself eating a shashlik, i.e. burned flash.
The guy was a Nazi, a brute and a thug.
He was shot on the street with a pistol. When he was down on the ground the killer put another bullet into his head (vid) to make sure that he was dead. The murderer then walked away.
There are many such Nazis in Ukraine who are too coward to take part in the war but ‘volunteer’ in support of police. They are the muscles needed to run various extortion rackets.
During his lifetime, Ganul was a scandalous person and had numerous conflicts. And not only with pro-Russian circles.
The motives for Ganul’s murder may not lie in the political sphere at all.
The victim has been engaged in volunteering since 2014, and also worked part-time as an “activist”, organizing actions against Odessa businessmen, politicians and city authorities.
For example, he actively supported the Odessa businessman Degas, who is in conflict with the Mayor’s office.
In addition, there have long been rumors in the city that Ganul is actually engaged in reket – looking for “victims” – cafes, restaurants, fitness clubs where you can find fault with something, for example, the staff speaks Russian. And then “helps” the owners of establishments.
In other words, he had many enemies. And not only for ideological reasons.
The other most popular news item at Strana relates to yesterday’s judgment by the European Court for Human Rights against the authorities of Ukraine:
In the case of Vyacheslavova and Others v. Ukraine the Court held that there had been violations of the right to life/investigation on account of the authorities’ failure to do everything that could reasonably be expected of them to prevent the violence in Odesa on 2 May 2014, to stop that violence after its outbreak, to ensure timely rescue measures for people trapped in the fire, and to institute and conduct an effective investigation into the events. It also held that there had been a violation of the right to respect for private and family life in respect of one applicant concerning the delay in handing over her father’s body for burial.
The courts press release describes the struggle that led to the case:
Maidan activists started setting fire to the tents. A group of pro-Russian protesters on the roof of the Trade Union Building threw Molotov cocktails at the crowd below; pro-unity activists retaliated by throwing Molotov cocktails at the building. Gunshots were reportedly fired from both sides.
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Despite numerous calls to the fire brigade, which was less than 1 km away, the fire service regional head instructed his staff not to send any fire engines to Kulykove Pole without his explicit order.
At 7.45 p.m., a fire broke out in the Trade Union Building. The fire extinguishers in the building did not work. The police called the fire brigade, to no avail. Some of the people in the building including Mr Dmitriyev (application no. 59339/17) tried to escape by jumping from the upper windows. He survived the fall and was taken to an ambulance. A number of people fell to their deaths, including the son of Ms Radzykhovska (application no. 59339/17) and the son of Ms Nikitenko (application no. 47092/18). Video footage shows pro-unity protesters making makeshift ladders and platforms from a stage in the square and using them to rescue people trapped in the building. Other video footage shows pro-unity protesters attacking people who had jumped or had fallen.
The regional head of the fire service finally ordered fire engines to be sent to the scene. Fire ladders were used to rescue people from the upper-floor windows. Firefighters entered the building at around 8.30 p.m. and put out the fire. The police arrested 63 anti-Maidan activists who were still inside the building or on the roof. They were released two days later, when a group of several hundred anti- Maidan protesters stormed the local police station where they were being held.
The fire claimed 42 lives.
There are several others well know perpetrators of the May 2 massacre, like Demyan Ganul, who are still running free in Ukraine. Their unrestricted activities underline the necessity of denazification in Ukraine.
May the ECHR judgment and the death of Demyan Ganul give some solace to the victims of the May 2 2014 massacre.
Reprinted with permission from Moon of Alabama.
