VIENNA, April 29. /TASS/. Russia is calling on the OSCE and its international partners to put pressure on Kiev to carry out a comprehensive investigation of the 2014 Odessa Trade Union House tragedy, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.
The Russian envoy told an online session of the OSCE Permanent Council that the numerous calls to carry out a full investigation of the Odessa tragedy had failed to motivate the Ukrainian government to ascertain the details of the incident and to bring those responsible to justice.
No progress was reached after the change in the Ukrainian leadership in 2019 either, he said.
"We need to establish the facts and to evaluate all circumstances of this horrible crime, namely to answer the question why firefighting units were not allowed to approach the burning Trade Union House, where people were dying at the time. We call on the OSCE and all international partners to put maximum pressure on Kiev to carry out a comprehensive investigation," Lukashevich stressed.
On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian radical nationalists, including members of the Pravy Sektor organization (or Right Sector, outlawed in Russia) set fire to the Trade Union House in the city of Odessa, where protesters against Ukraine's coup had found refuge. According to official estimates, the clashes killed 48 people, most of whom lost their lives in the Trade Union House tragedy, while 240 more people were reported to be injured in the inferno and its aftermath.