WASHINGTON, May 3. /TASS/. The Russian Embassy in the US has expressed indignation over the fact that the US administration ignores the tragic events in Ukraine’s Odessa that took place on May 2, 2014, and Kiev’s reluctance to conduct an investigation into them, the embassy said in a statement.

"We are outraged that by the US administration’s tacit approval of the Odessa events and the actual 'freeze' of the investigation by Kiev. This is confirmed by the fact that in the recent State Department Human Rights Report there was no word about the condemnation of Odessa tragedy and numerous similar crimes in Ukraine," the statement reads.

According to the Russian embassy, "such a situation cannot be perceived otherwise than the evidence of Washington's unwillingness to impartially look at the human rights situation in Ukraine and, using its influence on the Kiev authorities, to force them to rectify it. We are very much concerned about the fact that the US, by proclaiming itself almost a ‘measure’ of intolerance to human rights violations, is hypocritically turning a blind eye to the outrageous cases of arbitrariness by Ukrainian nationalist radicals," the diplomatic mission noted.

The Russian embassy also stressed that "the inaction by the Kiev authorities in the investigation of this tragedy only contributes to the growth of extremism in Ukraine. Impunity gives nationalists a sense of all-permissiveness. Their excesses do not stop. There are more and more cases of vandalizing historical monuments, which are dedicated to the heroic struggle of Ukrainians and the entire Soviet people against fascism."

May 2 Odessa tragedy

The Black Sea port city of Odessa saw riots on May 2, 2014, during which Right Sector militants (the movement recognized as an extremist organization in Russia) and football fans from Kiev set the Trade Unions House on fire. A tent camp where anti-Maidan activists were collecting signatures for a referendum on Ukraine's federalization and for the status of a state language for Russian was set ablaze. The activists sought shelter in the building. However, the attackers did not let anyone leave the burning Trade Unions House building. Around 48 people were reported dead and nearly 250 injured in the clashes and in the fire in the Trade Unions House. The authorities labeled 22 people as instigators, arresting only anti-Maidan supporters.