KIEV, February 18. /TASS/. The seventh anniversary of the February 2014 Maidan protests will not become a turning point in the investigation of deaths that took place during the rallies and the punishment of those responsible for the tragedy, Director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics Ruslan Bortnik told TASS.
"We shouldn’t expect an objective investigation under this government. This government is drifting to the right, flirting with the radicals, it has chosen its course. After the change in government in Ukraine, just like in 2019, the chance for an objective investigation will appear again, but it won’t necessarily be used," the expert stated.
He stressed that the current Ukrainian government still lives in the Maidan cycle, representing its winners. "It tries to preserve this victory and strengthen it in any way," Bortnik said. Only the full investigation of this tragedy has key significance for Ukraine as a state, he noted, adding that without it, Ukraine will remain a divided society.
Euromaidan protests
On November 21, 2013, a week ahead of the anticipated signing of the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union at an Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, the Ukrainian government announced "suspension of the process of preparations" for the signing of that agreement.
It provoked mass riots in central Kiev that ultimately resulted in a three-month standoff, commonly known as Euromaidan, or simply Maidan, on Kiev’s central Independence Square, or Maidan Nezalezhnosti. Protesters seized a number of administrative buildings and set up the so-called armed ‘self-defense’ forces, which plunged into open confrontation with law enforcement agencies. On February 20, 2014, as many as 53 people were killed by unidentified snipers in central Kiev. Over 100 people were victims of the standoff on February 18-20, and over 100 were wounded. According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, more than a thousand policemen and servicemen of special assignment forces were wounded in period of November 21, 2013, and February 20, 2014.
The Ukrainian prosecuting authorities have turned a blind eye to investigating these facts, however.
The regime that seized power in the aftermath pinned the blame for these crimes on Berkut riot police officers. In May 2015, a Kiev district court began considering the merits of the case against former Berkut officers who are charged with knowingly carrying out criminal orders to use weapons, abuse of power, illegal weapons handling as well as a terrorist attack. None of them have pled guilty to any of the charges.