MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. The Ukrainian authorities have opened a case against those who were burned in the House of Trade Unions in Odessa, which the Western public has chosen to ignore, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference on Russian diplomacy in 2022 on Wednesday.

"A total of 48 people were burned alive in Odessa’s House of Trade Unions. There is video footage on this subject available to everyone. We know the names of those who shot at people jumping from the burning building. Ukrainian authorities have opened a criminal case against those who were burned. But the entire world community, ostensibly progressively-minded, following the US’ lead, has shown no interest in this situation at all," Lavrov said.

On May 2, 2014, radicals of the Right Sector (banned in Russia) and the so-called Maidan self-defense forces attacked a tent camp in the Kulikovo field public garden, where Odessa residents were collecting signatures for a referendum on the federalization of Ukraine and on giving the Russian language official state status. Some supporters of federalization took refuge in the House of Trade Unions, but the radicals surrounded the building and set it on fire. In those tragic events, according to official data from the Interior Ministry, 48 people died and more than 240 others were injured.

The authorities blamed the unrest entirely on "anti-Maidan" activists. However, the investigation, which lasted several years, was unable to prove their guilt in court. As a result, all those initially detained were acquitted.