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Ukraine’s presidential candidate insists on objective probe into May 2 riots in Odessa

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UN Security Council members don’t back Odessa probe initiative

KIEV, May 22. /ITAR-TASS/. Serhiy Tihipko, a member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, and a candidate for Ukrainian presidency, has called on the official authorities to carry out an objective investigation into the death of people in the Odessa unrest on May 2, as well as in Kiev’s central Independence Square, known as Maidan, in February.

“If the tragedy in Odessa is not investigated, as well as the other one that occurred on Maidan in Kiev, when a hundred young people died on both sides, there will be no peace in the country,” he told the nationwide telethon “Peace Is Above All” on Thursday.

“I understand that it was a blatant provocation in Odessa and the authorities were behind it,” he said. “What kind of country are we living in? Sooner or later, society will know who was behind these tragedies. I am confident the truth will come out. The authorities come and go. If not under these authorities, then under other. These video records are here to stay. The truth must be revealed, I insist on it,” he added.

Kiev’s authorities, in his words, demonstrated double standards speaking about the Odessa tragedy. “I am enraged with the cynicism of the authorities. So, if we want to find the truth, if we want to find morality, we must give up the practice of double standards,” he stressed.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine presidential elections

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