Translation from:
https://de.rt.com/international/117127-arria-sitzung-bei-uno-2-mai-odessa-neonazismus-ukraine-opfer-zeugen-sagen-aus/
During a meeting of the UN Security Council in Arria format, five Ukrainian witnesses appeared in the Odessa pogrom, in which around two dozen people were killed in May 2014. The meeting took place on the initiative of Russia. Despite the sometimes shocking testimonies, US officials and their allies remained unfazed and even accused Russia of „disinformation“.
„Odessa seven years later: neo-Nazism and violent nationalism as drivers of the conflict in Ukraine“ – this was the topic of the UN Security Council meeting , which took place online on May 5th according to the so-called Arria formula. The meeting was opened by Vasily Nebensja, the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations. Understanding what causes the conflict is key to managing it, he said. The aim of this session is to understand what happened in Ukraine as a result of the coup in February 2014.
He pointed to the activities of the extremist forces in Ukraine and to crimes that have not been solved or investigated. „Unfortunately, the Odessa tragedy is just one of the many manifestations of neo-Nazism and violent nationalism in Ukraine that have been a key factor in dividing Ukrainian society since 2014.“
Then Vasily Nebensya introduced five Ukrainian participants at the meeting as witnesses: former deputy head of the Odessa police, Dmitri Futschedschi, former deputy of the Odessa regional council Alexei Albu, coordinator of the Ukrainian left association „Borotba“ (struggle) Sergei Kirichuk, den Political analyst Rostislav Ishchenko and the resident of the city of Gorlowka in the eastern Ukrainian war zone Anna Tuw. The latter has meanwhile lost her husband and daughter to the Ukrainian army shelling their place of residence and was mutilated in the process.
After the Maidan overthrow, the policeman Futschedschi was no longer loyal to the new rulers and fled to Transnistria and later to Russia shortly after the tragic events in Odessa. The Ukrainian public prosecutor’s office today accuses him of organizing the mass riots on May 2, 2014 and of negligence on the job. In his testimony to UN representatives, the ex-police officer pointed out the then recognizable, firm political will of the new Maidan leadership to evacuate the peaceful tent camp on the Kulikowo field in front of the trade union building in Odessa at all costs. According to him, even then-presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko personally offered police officers money for it. „The camp was there in accordance with the law,“ stressed Futschedschi and said,
opinionMay 2, 2014: The unpunished Odessa massacre
He reported that the first person killed that day – a pro-Ukrainian activist – was not shot at the site of the fighting between the pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian protesters. He personally suspected a false flag operation, similar to what happened on the Kiev Maidan during the coup. He also said that since the beginning of April, around 700 fighters from the so-called Maidan self-defense have been housed in the city of Odessa.
A survivor of the pogrom in and around the union building named Alexei Albu reported on the death of his comrades and his own rescue from the burning house. He said that there are many myths and outright lies about these tragic events:
„The first is that the football fans‘ march was peaceful. This is a lie. The ultras and representatives of hundreds of Maidan self-defense were armed with guns and stabbing weapons.
The second is that pro-Russian forces were reportedly the first to attack peaceful fans. That is also a lie. The first clash did not take place at Greek Square, but earlier, around 2.40 p.m. An unidentified man, who was later arrested and handed over to the police, opened fire from an air pistol on Kulikovo field activists. So far we know nothing about the fate of this man.
(…)
Fourth, the people in the union building would have died from the fire and smoke. This is a half-truth. Many people died from stab wounds and cuts and were killed when they jumped out of the burning building. So my friends Vyacheslav Markin, member of the regional council, and Andrej Brashewsky, activist of our organization ‚Borotba‘ died “ (According to the Ukrainian news portal strana.ua“ a total of 25 people out of 42 died from fire or asphyxiation – editor’s note).
The appearance of Anna Tuw, a war-damaged resident of Gorlowka, lasted the longest. She talked slowly, always close to crying. When the Ukrainian army shelled her home in eastern Ukraine, she lost a hand and her husband and eight-year-old daughter died. Their bodies were torn to pieces. Her two-year-old son was mutilated and has been severely disabled ever since. She reported on the horror of the war, the destruction of the schools, the days spent in cellars, the death of entire families in the neighborhood.
Who is responsible for the thousands of civilian casualties in the Donbass war in eastern Ukraine?
One day in July 2014, a park, a supermarket and a bus stop in their city were shot at, killing 22 civilians. She named the responsible Ukrainian commander by name, but noted that the Ukrainian side had refused to provide any information on alleged war crimes.
Again and again Tuw held pictures of the children killed in Donbass in front of the camera, including that of her daughter. Today she campaigns for the rights of war victims. According to her statement, 4,986 people have been killed in the unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic alone, including 91 children, and 370 children are now disabled. 2,600 complaints would have been filed with the International Criminal Court in The Hague and 4,500 complaints with the European Human Rights Council. „To date there has been no reaction.“
„The UN Supreme Commissioner for Human Rights pointed out in her report that the Ukrainian judicial organs were inoperable in matters related to the conflict. UN observers noted clear links between the Ukrainian nationalists and the Ukrainian Security Service SBU There was pressure from the nationalists on judges and investigative bodies. „
After the appearance of witnesses to the Ukraine conflict, the official UN representatives of the states attending the meeting took the floor. The representatives of six NATO countries – France, Estonia, Ireland, the USA, Great Britain and Norway – only spoke out in favor of unconditional support for Ukraine and its territorial sovereignty. Unimpressed by the hearing of the witnesses, they did not address the issues of nationalism or war crimes. Representatives of the USA, France, Estonia and Great Britain also expressed sharp criticism, however, directed at the Russian Federation because, in their opinion, the UN is abusing the UN to spread false narratives.
opinion
„We do not in any way support the narrative that the organizers have outlined in their concept notes,“ said French representative Vadid Bénabou about the invitation to the meeting. He noted that he was only attending the event to reiterate his support for Ukraine. For his part, British representative Ben Roberts was outraged: „The Russian Federation is deliberately, cynically and – as we see today – tragically trying to divert the attention of the international community from its own destabilizing activities that have been ongoing since 2014 against Ukraine.“
Representatives from Mexico, India and China were neutral, with the Mexican diplomat condemning all forms of xenophobia and nationalism. At the same time, she committed herself to the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The representatives of Syria and Belarus expressed their support for the Russian position, with the Belarusian diplomat also recalling the mass burning of civilians in Belarus by Nazi occupiers during the Second War.
„That is shameful“ – Moscow rebukes Berlin and Paris for blocking a UN meeting on Donbass
The Ukrainian guests invited as witnesses at the conference were given the floor again at the end and were able to partially reply to what had been said. The left-wing politician Sergei Kiriljuk, currently living in European exile, said that the politicization of this Odessa tragedy was only possible in a situation as long as the crime was not solved. The exile politician Alexei Albu, formerly from Odessa, pointed out that the majority of the pro-Russian activists in Odessa did not aim to promote the separation of the region from Ukraine, but rather a federalization of Ukraine. Their methods were peaceful, he insisted. In addition, it is wrong to claim that there is only one view of what is happening in Ukraine,
In an interview he gave after the meeting of the Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets , Albu said that representatives of Western states actually did not want to hear their testimony. „Twenty-seven states have confirmed their attendance at the meeting, but not all have spoken. Most of the representatives of the member states of the Security Council who spoke did not seem to be listening to what we had to say. Representatives of Western countries only used their appearances to convince Russia accused of allegedly fueling the conflict in Ukraine. „
Moscow: West angry that facts about developments in Ukraine reach the UN
„No progress is possible in the investigation into the events in Odessa on May 2nd (2014). If this is the position of the West, it is clear that Ukraine will not change its position either,“ said the participant and Ukrainian political analyst Rostislaw Ischenko, who also now lives in exile in Russia.
Russian Deputy Representative to the UN, Dmitri Polyansky, was extremely disappointed with the behavior of Western participants at the meeting. „The UN Security Council meeting based on the Arria formula about the Odessa tragedy and other crimes committed by nationalists in Ukraine left a heavy feeling, close to nausea. Even for us diplomats, who are used to the double standards and hypocrisy of our Western colleagues , it was not easy to keep calm, “ wrote Polyansky on his Telegram channel.
„In response to sincere, fact-based accounts of these heinous events that cannot leave an ordinary person indifferent, in response to personal memories of what happened then, we heard the same old Western mantra about our destructive actions against Ukraine“ the diplomat continued .
„But the truth about the Odessa tragedy – about what happened and what is happening in southeastern Ukraine – is gradually reaching the United Nations,“ said Polyansky. „It becomes part of the public consciousness and will reach those who want to understand what is going on. And that annoys our Western colleagues – that became clear from what they said.“
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