ODESSA, May 12 (Al Mayadeen English) – The May 2, 2014 massacre in Odessa killed at least 51 people, not 48, contrary to what had been circulated for a decade, former member of the Odessa City Council Vasily Polishchuk revealed to Sputnik.
"I have 100% information that at least 51 people died, not 48 as everyone writes, and about 230 were injured. Only an honest investigation will show the exact number," Polishchuk said on the decade-anniversary of the massacre.
In November 2013, protests were ignited in Ukraine against the government's decision to suspend a cooperation agreement with the European Union and develop ties with Russia instead. Demonstrations rapidly transcended into violent anti-establishment protests against alleged government corruption. Clashes erupted between Ukrainian forces and demonstrators, killing at least 100 people.
In February 2014, protests turned into a coup that ousted former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, leading to the estrangement of the eastern Donbass region and the subsequent military campaign launched against it by the new government in Kiev.
Clashes reached peak fatality on May 2, 2014, when Ukrainian nationalists locked pro-Russian protesters in the Odessa Trade Unions House and set it on fire.
War triggered by the 2014 coup
Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled the coup against Yanukovych in 2014, saying it was the trigger point of the current war between Russia and Ukraine.
In his interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, Putin said, "In 2008, the doors of NATO were opened for Ukraine. In 2014, there was a coup. They started persecuting those who did not accept the coup. And it was indeed a coup."
"They created the threat to Crimea, which we had to take under our protection. They launched the war in Donbas in 2014 with the use of aircraft and artillery against civilians. This is when it all started," said Putin.
The President said that the coup in Ukraine was what provoked the conflict, adding that the CIA did its job to complete the coup.
=FRESH NEWS
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