UN, October 23. /TASS/. Russia voiced concern with the United Nations on Wednesday over poor investigations into sound crimes and tragic accidents, which took place this year in Ukraine, particularly over the mass death of people in notorious Odessa fire, recently discovered mass burials in war-torn eastern Ukrainian territories and the crash of the Malaysian passenger aircraft this summer.
According to Alexey Zaitsev, 1st secretary of Russia’s permanent envoy to the United Nations, “there has been not an investigation into sniper shootings at Maidan, mass killings of people in Odessa and in other Ukrainian cities.”
“None has been brought into account in connection with the recently discovered mass burials near Donetsk,” Zaitsev said addressing a session of the UN General Assembly’s 4th Committee. “The investigation into the crash of MH-17 flight of the Malaysia Airline in fact reached its dead-end.”
Odessa
The southern Ukrainian city of Odessa saw riots on May 2, during which radicals set ablaze the Trade Unions House, where their opponents - federalization supporters - hid, and a tent camp where activists were collecting signatures for a referendum on Ukraine’s federalization and for the status of a state language for Russian.
At least 48 people died and 247 were injured in clashes and the fire in the Trade Unions House. Another 48 people were listed as missing. Some Ukrainian politicians asserted that the death toll reached 116 but that the Kiev authorities allegedly concealed the facts.
Mass graves
Ukraine’s southeastern militias from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics recently discovered mass graves at sites where Ukrainian troops had been stationed. It was reported on September 23 that militiamen found unidentified burial sites in the vicinity of the villages of Kommunar and Nizhnyaya Krynka in the Donetsk Region. After examination of one of the graves, forensic experts concluded that people buried there had been killed by shots to the head at close range.
MH-17 crash
The Boeing 777-200 of the Malaysia Airlines en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on July 17 in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Region, some 60 km (over 37 miles) from the Russian border, in the zone of combat operations between the Donetsk self-defense forces and the Ukrainian army. All the passengers and crewmembers onboard the aircraft - 298 people - died. Most of the passengers - 196 people - were Dutch citizens.
The Dutch Safety Board, which is leading the investigation and coordinating the international team of investigators, said in its preliminary report published in early September that “Flight MH17 with a Boeing 777-200 operated by Malaysia Airlines broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside.”
Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said last month addressing the UN Security Council that the final report on the results of the investigation into the crash of the Malaysian passenger aircraft in Ukraine would be presented next summer.