Video Reconstruction and Content Analysis of the Maidan Massacre on February 20, 2014

Abstract

This chapter presents video reconstruction and the content analysis of the Maidan massacre in Ukraine using over 2,000 videos and recordings of live Internet and TV broadcasts of the massacre in nearly 50 countries, news reports and social media posts by some 120 journalists covering the massacre from Kyiv, over 6,000 photos, and nearly 30 gigabytes of publicly available radio intercepts of snipers and commanders of the Security Service of Ukraine and Internal Troops. Synchronized videos show that specific times and directions of shooting by the Berkut policemen did not coincide with specific times and directions of killings of specific protesters.

This chapter presents video reconstruction and the content analysis of the Maidan massacre in Ukraine using over 2,000 videos and recordings of live Internet and TV broadcasts of the massacre in nearly 50 countries, news reports and social media posts by some 120 journalists covering the massacre from Kyiv, over 6,000 photos, and nearly 30 gigabytes of publicly available radio intercepts of snipers and commanders of the Security Service of Ukraine and Internal Troops. Synchronized videos show that specific times and directions of shooting by the Berkut policemen did not coincide with specific times and directions of killings of specific protesters. Snipers in the Maidan-controlled buildings aiming or shooting at the Maidan protesters are filmed in at least 14 videos, including 10 videos in which these snipers were identified as Maidan opposition snipers, in particular far-right linked. At least 26 videos show groups of Maidan snipers and spotters, in particular, from the far-right special armed Maidan company, moving into, looking for, changing, or leaving shooting positions in the Maidan-controlled buildings and areas. Positions of activists and locations and directions of the wounds in forensic medical examinations match directions from Maidan-controlled buildings and areas. There are over 100 testimonies and reports by Maidan activists, journalists, and policemen during the massacre itself about Maidan snipers or snipers in the Maidan-controlled buildings.

3.1 The Reconstruction of the Snipers’ Massacre of the Police and the Protesters on the Maidan in Ukraine

The content analysis of synchronized videos, photos, audio recordings, and media and social media reports shows that the cease-fire agreement, which was signed by then President Viktor Yanukovych and leaders of the Maidan opposition parties around midnight on February 20, 2014, was broken early in the morning on that day. The Berkut and Internal Troops units were then in standoff with the protesters on the Maidan (the Independence Square) in downtown Kyiv (see Video, 2023a and Map 3.1).

Map 3.1

Maidan massacre map (based on Google Satellite Map)

Shortly after midnight on February 20, Dmytro Yarosh, the leader of the far-right Right Sector, announced that his organization did not accept a truce agreement with Yanukovych and would undertake decisive actions against the government forces by force (Ukrainska, 2014). The Right Sector alliance, which was organized at the start of the Euromaidan, included then radical nationalist Tryzub named after Bandera and UNA-UNSO and neo-Nazi Social National Assembly (SNA) and its paramilitary branch Patriot of Ukraine, the neo-Nazi White Hammer, and neo-Nazi football ultras groups, such as White Boys Club. Neo-Nazi SNA, Patriot of Ukraine, and football ultras organized the Azov battalion after the Odesa massacre on May 2, 2014 (see Katchanovski, 2016, 2020).

STB and 112 Ukraina TV videos show snipers covertly shooting from the Music Conservatory shortly before 8:00 am. A BBC investigation included photos by a Ukrainian photographer showing several Maidan snipers armed with hunting rifles and either a Kalashnikov assault rifle or its hunting version inside the Music Conservatory shortly after 8:00 am. A recording of a live 112 Ukraina TV broadcast at 8:00 am referred to shooters at the conservatory. Another live report at 8:37 am states that shooters from the conservatory wounded at least five policemen on the Maidan. A video shows a Berkut policeman facing the conservatory and shouting about pellets hitting the Berkut police on the Maidan, and that the deadly gunfire is from above. In their radio communications, the Internal Troops units, stationed at Maidan, made urgent requests for ambulances at 8:08 am (Katchanovski, 2015; Video, 2023a) (Fig. 3.1).

Fig. 3.1

(Photo by the author)

Music Conservatory and the Main Post Office on the Maidan (Independence Square)

A speaker on the Maidan stage announced circa 8:20 am that Maidan activists had just caught a sniper, and that this sniper was taken to the Maidan headquarters. A statement from the Fatherland Party on February 20, 2014, also said that the Maidan protesters were shot from the roof of the Music Conservatory by government forces and that the shooting stopped after the Maidan activists climbed to the roof (Batkivshhyna, 2014).

Videos also show that the Music Conservatory was located in Maidan-controlled territory, with many protesters filmed near its entrance and the Maidan-facing parts of the building. A Maidan stage speaker asked at about 8:00 am “dear friends” in the Music Conservatory to suppress the fire on its balcony. A special Maidan company commander and three of its members admitted in their Ukrainian media and BBC interviews and during interrogation that their unit was based on the conservatory building at the time of the massacre and shot at the police (Chapter 4; Gatehouse, 2015; Gordon, 2020; Ivan, 2016).

A GPU investigation and the Maidan massacre trial verdict confirmed these public admissions (Maidan, 2023; Vyrok, 2023). The commander and many of its members, whose list was leaked from the investigation, were members or had other links to far-right organizations, such as the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, the Right Sector, and Svoboda, and were primarily from Galicia in Western Ukraine (Kto, 2020).

Fig. 3.2

(Photo by the author)

Hotel Ukraina

A not-broadcast CNN video footage shows approximately 8:20 am, the commander and members of the special armed Maidan company moving with their firearms to the Maidan barricade, taking positions behind the Maidan barricade facing the police and the Internal Troops on the Maidan while using unarmed Maidan protesters as human shields. Their appearance was followed by sounds of many gunshots. At the same exact place and around the same time, members of the special armed Maidan company were filmed, in particular shooting from hunting rifles in the direction of the Berkut police and Internal Troops facing them on the Maidan. A recording of a live broadcast also showed one member of the special armed Maidan company giving then to another on the same barricade a Kalashnikov-type firearm (Video, 2023a, 05:03).

Similarly, 24 TV channel reported shortly before 8:00 am that there was shooting from Hotel Ukraina, that there were shots by pellets and snipers, and that three shot protesters had been evacuated. A video by a Maidan protester shows one of the casualties among protesters being evacuated from the Maidan, and this is followed by a warning from the Maidan stage about a sniper in Hotel Ukraina. At a similar time, a speaker on the Maidan stage said that someone was shooting from this hotel. He asked “our guys, who had been in the hotel until recently,” to check this (Video, 2023a, 00:01:19). These videos provide evidence that snipers in Hotel Ukraina shot the Maidan protesters, and that the Maidan forces controlled the inside of this hotel and had the ability to report or neutralize any snipers there if they were from government forces or any third force. (Fig 3.2).

The synchronized videos show how Internal Troops and the Berkut were shot, fell to the ground, and evacuated in the same area of the Independence Square (Maidan) around the same time. In their radio communications, the internal troop units on the Maidan made urgent requests for a life support vehicle at 8:21 am, an ambulance at 8:29 am, two ambulances at 8:39 am, and five ambulances at 8:46 am (see Katchanovski, 2015; Video, 2023a). This timing is consistent with the casualties of police and Internal Troops. Various media reports, for instance, by correspondents of several TV channels in the Maidan area and a statement by the Internal Affairs Ministry on the morning of February 20 stated that the police units on the Maidan were shot with live ammunition from the Music Conservatory.

The Berkut anti-riot police and internal troop units, which were besieging, storming, and blocking the Maidan for almost three months, hastily abandoned their positions on the Maidan and fled between 8:50 am and 9:00 am. Videos and radio communications by the internal troop units contain urgent retreat orders at 8:49 am and 8:50 am. Large numbers of Berkut and Internal Troops servicemen were fleeing the Maidan area at haste minutes before and after 9:00 am. A Berkut officer stated during this retreat that the police came under live ammunition fire from Maidan “snipers” and that then “snipers” appeared on the third floor from the top of Hotel Ukraina. Several other fleeing Berkut and Internal Troop members and TV correspondents on the ground made similar statements (Video, 2023a).

The content analysis suggests that both the police and the Maidan protesters on the Maidan were shot in the early morning by snipers in the Maidan-controlled buildings and areas, such as Hotel Ukraina and the Music Conservatory, and that the police and Internal Troops then retreated and fled from the Maidan as a result of the casualties among their units. These findings are corroborated by numerous testimonies of wounded Maidan protesters and Berkut policemen, commanders of government sniper units, eyewitnesses among the Maidan protesters and journalists, government investigations, forensic examinations by government experts, and the Maidan massacre trial verdict.

The Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine investigation determined that one Berkut officer was killed on the Maidan from a Music Conservatory direction and two from Maidan barricades direction between 8:00 am and 9:10 am, two of whom were shot from a Kalashnikov-based Saiga hunting carbine by a member of a special Maidan company. He earlier admitted in Ukrainian media interviews shooting the police from the Music Conservatory and Maidan barricades and killing two policemen from such a firearm (Ivan, 2016). In addition, the government investigation determined that 39 policemen were wounded by firearms on the Maidan from 5:30 am until the police retreat, and that 10 Maidan protesters were wounded on the Maidan by live ammunition in the morning of February 20 before 9:00 am from sectors other than government-controlled, but nobody was charged for their wounding.

The synchronized video compilation shows that, following the retreat of the police unit crowds of protesters, the absolute majority of whom were unarmed started around 8:50 a.m. to advance from their positions on the Maidan up Instytutska and Hrushevsky streets. Their advancement was guided by commands announced from the Maidan stage over loudspeakers. They relayed orders by Maidan leaders and company commanders of Maidan Self-Defense. Specifically, a Maidan announcer relayed orders for protesters to advance to Zhovtnevyi Palace heights and stay at these positions. This order for protesters was issued from the Maidan stage, even when the Berkut police briefly advanced to the Zhovtnevyi Palace area and started shooting (see Video, 2023a).

The synchronized and time-stamped videos show that three protesters were killed before about two dozen police officers from the special Berkut company first appeared from a bus and started shooting with Kalashnikovs and pump rifles a few minutes after 9:00 am. This means that the special Berkut company policemen, who were charged with killing these three protesters, could not physically shoot them and that they were killed by someone else. The Maidan massacre trial verdict confirmed this (see Chapter 8).

For example, French BFMTV TV shows killing of Bohdan Vaida at 9:00 am. Both Berkut lawyers and the Maidan massacre trial verdict suggested that he was shot from a Maidan-controlled area via a ricochet from a police water cannon truck based on deformed pellets that hit an obstacle and back to front, left to right, and somewhat top to bottom direction of pellets in left side area of his head (Video, 2023a, 12:25).

Similarly, the videos suggest that Maidan snipers were shooting protesters there at around the same time. A Polish TVP TV correspondent reported at 9:01 am right after these three protesters were killed near him that a sniper shooting both the police and protesters appeared. He pointed to the Maidan in the Music Conservatory direction. A warning was made from the Maidan stage at 9:04 am for protesters not to shoot other protesters in the back, several minutes after these three protesters were killed (see Video, 2023a, 13:05).

The content analysis of synchronized videos shows that about 20 members of the special Berkut company appeared on Instytutska Street near Maidan from a bus at 9:02 am and started shooting with pump rifles and AKMS (modified Kalashnikov assault rifles). The videos show that many Maidan protesters fall to the ground with bullet wounds in the same area within the same general timeframe. These videos were presented by the media, the prosecution, and the Maidan lawyers as definite proof that these Berkut policemen massacred Maidan protesters. These Berkut policemen were filmed in numerous videos and National Bank security cameras for nearly the entire period from their deployment to the end of the massacre.

However, the content analysis shows that the purpose of the Berkut company’s brief advance was to enable a retreat of internal troop soldiers remaining in Zhovtnevyi Palace, whose main entrance was seized by the protesters a few minutes after 9:00 am. This finding was confirmed by the Maidan massacre trial verdict (Chapter 8). The limited advance of two dozen members of the Berkut special company to Zhovtnevyi Palace and their swift retreat along with a large number of policemen can be seen in various videos. Synchronized videos show that Berkut gunshots from Kalashnikovs and their direction coincide with visible impacts on the ground and pavement before the protesters. There is no evidence that Berkut actions in this case were affective or emotional (see Video, 2023a) (Fig. 3.3).

Fig. 3.3

(Photo by the author)

Zhovtnevyi Palace

Unbroadcast Polish TV video shows that the killing of Bohdan Solchanyk at 9:08 am coincides with a gunshot by a Berkut policeman in the ground direction several meters in front of this protester, but it also coincides with another quieter gunshot. While his killing by a ricochet by this Berkut policemen cannot be excluded, a steep wound direction in the forensic medical examination and various evidence that snipers in the Maidan-controlled Hotel Ukraina and Zhovtnevyi Palace were shooting and killing protesters near Solchanyk around the same time, such as Saienko, suggest that he could have been shot by such a sniper (Video, 2023a, 15:52). The Maidan massacre trial verdict stated that he was shot by the Berkut policeman unintentionally via a ricochet and did not convict this Berkut member for his killing.

The government investigation did not use forensic ballistic experts to determine directions from which Solchanyk and the absolute majority of other Maidan activists were shot from, even after being ordered to do so by the trial. This was a rational choice to cover up snipers in the Maidan-controlled locations since one need not to be a forensic expert to determine that activists could not be shot from Berkut barricade direction on the ground if their wound locations and directions, specified by government forensic medical experts, are from steep and opposite or sideways directions (see Chapter 6).

A Radio Svoboda video from Hotel Ukraina shows Andrii Saienko killing at 9:08 am. His position in the video with Hotel Ukraina on his right and the Berkut in front along with forensic medical examination determined a steep right to left wound direction in upper front chest on the right and a steep top to bottom wound channel to the backbone. This points towards the top of Hotel Ukraina (Video, 2023a, 16:33). Volodymyr Kotsiuba was killed at 9:10 am. His position in the video and a forensic medical examination found that he was shot in the right front of his head at a steep angle from top to bottom and right to left point, to a gunshot from a Maidan-controlled building, such as Right Sector headquarters or the Music Conservatory, which were located in that direction. The defense lawyers and the Maidan massacre trial verdict also suggested that he was shot not by Berkut but from the Music Conservatory. The Berkut police members were filmed not shooting at the specific time of his killing (Video, 2023a, 16:44).

Oleksii Bratusko was then killed near Kotsiuba. His position with the Maidan-controlled area on his right and the location and steep direction of a wound on the right side of the neck, which is 9.5 cm higher than on the left shoulder blade, suggest a gunshot from a building in the Maidan area and do not match Berkut positions on the same ground level (Video, 2023a). Bohdan Ilkiv is killed nearby at 9:11 am. Forensic medical and original ballistic examinations determined that he was shot at a steep direction from the same weapon as Saienko and at least 9 other protesters, including Mykola Shymko who was shot near Solchanyk (Sudova, 2016a). His position in the video and the wounds location and direction are consistent with shooting of Ilkiv from Hotel Ukraina. Maidan protesters testified at the Maidan massacre trial and investigation that they were shot and saw snipers in this hotel and in Zhovtnevyi Palace (see Chapter 5). Specific times and directions of Berkut shooting do not coincide with killings of Ilkiv and other protesters in this area.

At 9:10–9:11 am, within minutes of the killing of several protesters, an announcer on the Maidan stage publicly warned the protesters about two to three snipers on the pendulum floor of Hotel Ukraina. This matches the 11th floor facing the massacre area shortly before, during, and after that time. A video operator from the 5 Kanal was filmed within minutes telling the journalist from this channel that there is sniper in a Hotel Ukraina window. This video was not broadcast but was shown at the Maidan massacre trial. A Berkut officer stated during this retreat that the police came under live ammunition fire from Maidan “snipers” and that then “snipers” appeared on the third floor from the top of Hotel Ukraina, e.g., 11th or 9th floor (Video, 2023a).

At the time of the killings of these activists, the commander and a member of the special armed Maidan company walk with a Kalashnikov-type weapon in front of the Maidan stage from Trade Union building direction in the Music Conservatory direction without any apparent concern for the snipers in Hotel Ukraina and Zhovtnevyi and for the advancing and firing Berkut.

Similar warnings concerning snipers in this hotel, in particular that they kill protesters, were relayed from the Maidan stage several times during the massacre. Such warnings were also made about snipers in Zhovtnevyi Palace when it was under the control of Maidan protesters.

The content analysis shows that specific times and directions of shooting by members of a Berkut unit of about 20 policemen, who are charged with their killings and attempted killing, and specific times of killings and wounding of specific Maidan protesters did not coincide in the videos, which filmed both simultaneously, for example, in a long German ARD TV video and in synchronized videos (Nove, 2017). This crucial long ARD video, which like synchronized videos demonstrates visually that the Berkut policemen did not shoot at least the absolute majority of killed and wounded protesters, was not shown by this German public TV broadcaster. The Berkut policemen at the exact times of the killings and wounding of the absolute majority of these protesters are filmed standing, moving, taking cover behind barricades, not aiming their AKMs towards these protesters, and there is no visible gunshot smoke or recoil of their firearms. It was physically impossible to shoot them without aiming at their Kalashnikovs in the specific protesters and making gunshots at the same time when the protesters were seen falling to the ground when there were sounds of specific gunshots (see Video, 2023g).

In contrast, Berkut lawyers and the government investigation determined that the time and direction of killing of Mykola Symysiuk, a Berkut special company member, at 9:16 am match shooting by a Maidan activist from a hunting rifle in photos and in a video that shows him running away to cover behind the protesters (Video, 2023a, 18:27). This investigation found that this Berkut policeman was killed by pellets from a similar Maidan direction and that another Berkut policeman, who was wounded around the same time, was the last police casualty of the massacre.

Vasyl Aksenyn was mortally wounded at 9:17 am when he faced Berkut, but the wound was steep and from the right to left direction. His wife testified that he apparently said that he was shot from Hotel Ukraina. His son stated in a Ukrainian media interview that his father was shot from this hotel, based on the wounds locations and directions (see Chapter 4). Ivan Tarasiuk, Vasyl Moisei, and Ihor Pekhenko were then killed in the same area near Zhovtnevyi. Forensic medical examinations determined that based on their wounds they were shot from steep directions from significant height, which matched the eyewitness reports about snipers in Maidan-controlled buildings. Videos show Berkut members were then on the same ground level as these shot activists (see Video, 2023a). The Maidan massacre trial verdict also suggested that based on steep directions and locations of his wounds and his reported position Pekhenko was shot from the upper part of Hotel Ukraina (see Chapter 8).

Bullet holes from the side of this hotel appeared then in the same area on Zhovtnevyi Palace columns. A number of Maidan protesters testified that they witnessed there snipers in Hotel Ukraina or were shot there from the hotel (Chapter 5).

A BBC video shows killing of Ihor Dmytriv at 9:21 am. Another video shows killing of Andrii Dyhdalovych near him. The content analysis of synchronized videos of killings of Dmytriv and Dyhdalovych visually illustrates that the specific times of their shooting did not match the specific times of Berkut shooting in the same and/or other synchronized videos. The synchronized videos in both this study and the SITU model show no policemen or their firearms visible from behind the Berkut-manned barricade at the time of killing Dmytriv. They also show the same concerning the Berkut police and no signs of a gunshot, such as flash and recoil, of an Omega sniper behind the same barricade at the time of killing Dyhdalovych (see Video, 2023g).

Forensic medical examinations found that Dmytriv was shot in his right side from right to left very steep direction when he faced Berkut in front of him. An appearance and the location of a bullet hole on the right edge of his shield point to Bank Arkada. Similarly, a steep front to back wound direction from his chest to the back in forensic reports and appearance of a bullet hole in another shield suggest that Dyhdalovych was shot not from the ground level but from Bank Arkada. Ivan Kulish, who was filmed then approaching Dyhdalovych, said that he saw a sniper on the roof of Bank Arkada and that Dyhdalovych was killed by a sniper from this building. Synchronized videos show that the Berkut policemen and an Omega sniper at the specific time of the killing of these two Maidan activists were not even shooting (see Video, 2023g).

A synchronized and time-stamped videos also showed that Berkut policemen behind a Berkut barricade were not shooting at all during the wounding of Sviatoslav Kolesnikov on a pedestrian bridge. He and a forensic government expert, based on the steep bullet direction in the activist’s shoulder and in a chair that he used to cover himself from this hotel, stated that Kolesnikov was shot from the upper part of Hotel Ukraina. At the time of his wounding, Maidan activists were filmed hiding under the same bridge along with other protesters and pointing out that snipers in Hotel Ukraina were shooting in their direction (Video, 2023g).

Oleh Sukhinsky, who was in a lilac cover and was filmed being wounded nearby at 9:24 am, said in his Ukrainian media interview shortly after the massacre that he saw that he was shot from Hotel Ukraina (Video, 2023a; Chapter 4). Another activist in blue clothing was wounded in the same area and the same time as this and many as many other protesters. The government investigation determined based on their testimonies and investigative experiments that he along with about half of other Maidan activists was wounded from other sectors than Berkut and did not charge anyone (Video, 2023a; Chapter 8).

Oleksandr Huch, the Volhynian company of the Maidan Self-Defense commander, stated that he thought based on his position that he was shot from the Cabinet of Ministers building. However, his position in a Norwegian NRK TV video, which was not shown at the trial, the ricochet impact seen in this video, and his wound location and its steep direction suggest that he was shot from a Muzeinyi Lane building on the left and somewhat in front of him. An on-site investigative experiment by the government forensic experts, including a ballistic expert, determined that Huch was shot from a sector of fire which included Muzeinyi Lane buildings (Video, 2023a, 24:40).

Serhii Kemsky was filmed in the Belgian VTM TV video advancing towards the Berkut in front of him and then falling to the ground after being shot. The right to left and steep top to bottom directions of his one wound and another wound in his back, as specified in forensic medical reports, show that he was shot from a Maidan-controlled area, such as Hotel Ukraina. According to defense lawyer statement during the trial, a Maidan eyewitness testified for the investigation that he saw a sniper shooting from the second floor of Hotel Ukraina and killing Kemsky a few meters away from himself (Video, 2023b). But the prosecution and the verdict claimed that Kemsky was killed by Berkut even though this was physically impossible.

Mykola Dziavulsky was killed near Kemsky from a steep left to right and front to back direction, as specified in the forensic medical examination, while he also faced Berkut. This points to his killing from a Muzeinyi Lane building, which was located on his left somewhat ahead. Wounded protesters in this group also testified about snipers in Muzeinyi Lane area (see Video, 2023d, Chapter 5). Valeriy Opanasiuk in the same group and place with his back to the Berkut barricade was killed soon afterwards in front heart area from a steep front to back and left to right direction, which matches Hotel Ukraina. And Anatolii Korneev was killed in the same spot when he faced Berkut with Hotel Ukraina on his right. His position in the Belgian VTM video and his steep right to left wound direction in the forensic medical examination point to the gunshot from Hotel Ukraina from which this video was filmed. Oleksandr Shcherbaniuk in the same group was killed in his left chest area with bullet exiting in the left back side area in a steep angle. This is consistent with a sniper shot from the green Bank Arkada building and not from the Berkut barricade in front of him. Other four protesters were killed and many wounded there within five minutes (see Video, 2023a; Map 3.1).

Total 10 protesters were killed there shortly before 9:30 am (see Map 3.1). His position in the video and the wound direction in a forensic medical report made public during the trial indicate that Serhii Baidovsky was killed at 9:24 am from Hotel Ukraina. He was wounded in his left chest side from a top to bottom direction and slightly from a back, while seconds before and after he was gravely wounded, he was filmed from Hotel Ukraina with this hotel on his left side (Jus, 2015; Sudova, 2015).

A wounded activist, who was filmed with a flag near these killed activists, testified that he was shot in the same spot and time from Hotel Ukraina. Another Maidan activist eyewitness testified about a sniper on its 2d floor. Kovalchuk also testified that he was wounded there from this hotel. Maidan activists during this killing spree were wondering if the shots were from this hotel. Windows were open on the 6th, 9th, and 11th floors of the hotel, and one wounded protester testified during the trial that a sniper on the 6th floor of Hotel Ukraina shot a couple of protesters. At the end of this killing spree, one protester said that it was necessary to go with a Kalashnikov assault rifle to check the hotel (see Video, 2023a, 26:10; Chapter 5; Video, 2023g).

Ihor Kostenko was killed there behind a tree at 9:29 am when he and other activists near him were looking to Hotel Ukraina. He was filmed shortly before and after with his right shoulder towards Maidan. This position and a forensic medical examination conclusion that he was shot in right shoulder with bullet exiting in the left shoulder point to a shot from a Maidan-controlled area direction. The Maidan massacre trial confirmed this (see Chapter 8). Serhii Bondarchuk was killed there at 9:29 am while carrying away another protester. A forensic medical examination found that his wound location and its steep direction suggest that he was shot not by Berkut on the ground but from a Maidan-controlled building, in particular, Hotel Ukraina (Video, 2023a).

The Berkut policemen, who were charged with the killing all these protesters, were behind a barricade in front of the protesters and on similar ground level with them, and therefore could not have physically shot these activists. These policemen were filmed running away amid bullets impacting their barricades. This means that they were also under fire from the Maidan snipers in the Maidan-controlled buildings. The Spilno TV streamer specifically stated that the Berkut policemen were shooting and were themselves under fire and then retreated to the truck barricade (see Video, 2023a).

Unbroadcast segments of the most famous video of the Maidan massacre, which was filmed by the Belgian VRT News TV and revealed at the Maidan massacre trial, show two Maidan protesters luring a group of other protesters to advance towards Berkut shortly before they would be massacred there. One of them in a gas mask was filmed in about 40 minutes entering Hotel Ukraina along with the far-right-linked group of snipers (see Video, 2023a, 2023c).

There was no other rational reason to lead protesters there after dozen protesters were killed and many more were wounded in the same area on the other side of Instytutska Street minutes before. A protester is heard shouting to the other activists in this group not to go ahead because snipers from the hotel were shooting [taking down] all protesters together, and that there were gunshots visible from the hotel. This video then shows a bullet hitting a tree in the direction of this group of Maidan protesters at 9:38. They looked back towards Hotel Ukraina after this shot. One of them pointed his hand towards the hotel and shouted about gunshots from the hotel, and that they shot to take down the protesters and asked the shooters there not to shoot at them. This suggests that they knew that snipers in the hotel were from the Maidan opposition. The Maidan massacre trial verdict confirmed that this gunshot was from Hotel Ukraina (Chapter 8).

Almost all of the dozen protesters in this group, including Oleh Ushnevych, were killed or wounded several minutes later (see Video, 2023c). Six wounded protesters from this group testified at the Maidan massacre trial and the investigation that they were shot from Hotel Ukraina and buildings on Horodetsky Street and Muzeinyi Lane, witnessed snipers in this hotel, or were told by other protesters about snipers there (see Chapter 8).

The video shows that Eduard Hrynevych was killed in the head at 9:41 am seconds after these warnings concerning Hotel Ukraina snipers. A Volyn TV documentary, his apparent position with his back towards the Berkut barricade and his face and his shield towards the hotel, and a testimony that bullet entered the left temple area of his head above an eye and exited in the back of the head point towards Hotel Ukraina as most likely covert location of the shooter that killed him. Anatolii Zhalovaha was killed near him two minutes later. The forensic reports by government experts for the investigation found that the entry wound was in the back right area of his head and the exit wound in his forehead when he was filmed facing the Berkut barricade with his back to the Maidan-controlled area, including Hotel Ukraina somewhat to the left and back (Sudova, 2016b). This is consistent with Hotel Ukraina shooter (Video, 2023a).

Synchronized videos show that specific times of gunshots by the Berkut policemen and their aiming direction in synchronized videos do not coincide with specific times and locations of killing of at least 39 out of 49 protesters. There is lack of video data in 10 other cases of the killed protesters. In several cases when such times coincide, there are gunshots of different sounds, while Berkut Kalashnikovs did not aim at the specific activists who were shot. Synchronized videos show several hundred different sounding gunshots when Berkut was filmed not shooting and before the arrival of government snipers. This means that while unintentional shooting of some protesters by the Berkut police from ricochets cannot be completely excluded based only on videos, there is also evidence of their shooting by snipers from other locations.

The content analysis shows that Berkut physically could not shot protesters from behind a truck barricade because they were in blind spots below the Berkut line of fire from over the top of the truck body. Because the height and width of the MAZ truck were approximately three meters, it was physically impossible for Berkut policemen, who were entirely behind this truck or standing on the concrete pieces with only their heads and hands visible from the behind the truck barricade to shoot protesters below in front of this truck. The latter could only shoot parallel to the top of the truck or above (see Video, 2023a, 2023g). This is consistent with bullet hole locations on the second floor of the hotel and above and their absence on the first (ground) floor.

The group of the Maidan activists tried to take cover at 9:43 am behind a concrete wall. This wall shielded them from the Berkut barricade in front of them. The videos and on-site examination by the author show that it was physically impossible to kill Oleh Ushnevych from the Berkut barricade because of the concrete wall that shielded from the Berkut barricade (Video, 2023a, 33:06). And forensic examinations for the government investigation and the Maidan massacre trial verdict determined that Ushnevych was killed from Hotel Ukraina by a bullet from a handgun (Chapter 8).

Roman Tityk testified at the investigation that he was wounded near him from this hotel based on his wound location. This is consistent with his position in the video of his shooting and wound locations in forensic medical examination. Volodymyr Venchak testified at the trial that this group, including himself, was shot there in the back from Hotel Ukraina. Serhii Trapezun, who was wounded carrying Ushnevych, also said in his interviews and investigation testimony that he and group were shot from the back and sides, i.e., Hotel Ukraina and Horodetsky Street and Muzeinyi Lane, and that he saw snipers on the 2nd floor and the roof of Hotel Ukraina when he was wounded (Chapter 4 and 5).

Volodymyr Zherebnyi was killed near them at 9:44 am with his left side turned towards the hotel. A French photographer's photo of chips in bullet holes in his wooden shield point to gunshots from the back, i.e., the hotel. The forensic examinations determined that his entry wound in his left jaw with exit wound in right side of the neck was at a very steep angle and that he was shot from the upper floors of Hotel Ukraina. The verdict confirmed such shooting direction (Video, 2023a; Chapter 8).

Trapezun pointed out that Roman Varenytsia in front of him was also killed from the back, i.e., from Hotel Ukraina. Their visible trajectories in the video and forensic medical reports show that two bullets hit him at steep angles which point to the gunshots from Hotel Ukraina at 9:46 am. A bullet impacted a tree near Varenytsia from the Maidan-controlled area direction, most likely from Zhovtnevyi Palace, since the visual examination of this tree and its photos and videos does not show any entry or exit hole on the opposite side that matches this bullet’s impact and the location of this bullet hole. A Maidan stage speaker warned at that very time that there is a sniper shooting on Zhovtnevyi Palace (Video, 2023a) (Fig. 3.4).

Fig. 3.4

(Photo by the author)

Gunshot impact marks from the directions of Maidan-controlled Hotel Ukraina, Zhovtnevyi Palace/Kinopalats and Muzeinyi Lane on the tree

Content analysis of videos frame by frame reveals an apparent bullet trace from a steep back direction, which matches Hotel Ukraina, and apparent bullets hitting the same tree from Muzeinyi Lane or Kinopalace direction and then wood chips flying from the opposite side of the tree (see Video, 2023c). The visual examination of this tree and its photos and videos shows small size bullet holes from Muzeinyi Lane/Kinopalats direction and larger bullet holes on the opposite side of the tree, which matches the video content analysis and typical pattern of exit holes larger than entry holes. The same content analysis and on-site visual examination by the author show bullet impacts on the same tree from the Hotel Ukraina direction, which match the visible steep bullet impacts during the killing of Varenytsia. The failure of the government investigation to determine directions of these bullet holes by forensic ballistic experts also suggests that the gunshots were from the Maidan-controlled buildings. There are also a couple of bullet holes on the Berkut barricade side of this tree (see Video, 2023c; Chapter 6).

Roman Tochyn was killed there at 9:47 am while his right side of the head was turned towards the Berkut barricade. A forensic report stated that he was shot in the right side of his head with the bullet exiting lower in the left side of the head, but it revealed that the wound on the right was much larger than on the left, in contrast to a typical pattern. A deadly gunshot from the Berkut barricade, Muzeinyi Lane, Bank Arkada, or via a ricochet from Hotel Ukraina cannot be excluded in this case since the evidence is contradictory. Exact locations of his killer could have been easily established based on the bullet hole locations in his helmet and his shield, but both of them “disappeared.”

A French TF1 TV shows a protester shouting circa 9:46–9:50 am about snipers in the top part of Hotel Ukraina to a Svoboda deputy near Hotel Ukraina entrance. A Belgian TV shows another protester circa 9:47–9:49 am shouting about snipers in the hotel in this hotel lobby. The seemingly irrational absence of any reaction concerning the snipers in the hotel by the Svoboda deputy and the Maidan commander, who guarded the hotel, becomes rational if they knew that the snipers were from the Maidan opposition. The choice of this hotel by Svoboda deputies to treat the wounded Maidan activists in spite of the snipers in the hotel shooting the activists suggests the same (Video, 2023a).

Yuri Parashchuk was killed in the same area at 9:48 am. His position in the video facing the Berkut barricade, the wound location in the back of his head and its top to bottom direction in the forensic medical examination, and the single bullet hole in the top back area of his helmet in videos of his killing and afterwards suggest that he was shot from the top of Bank Arkada in front and to the right of him. A Berkut lawyer at the Maidan massacre trial stated that the on-site investigative experiment, which was conducted by government forensic experts with the participation of a Maidan victims’ lawyer, determined that the gunshot direction was from Bank Arkada. He said that Parashchuk was in a blind zone of the Berkut barricade (Video, 2023g).

The SITU model of shooting of Dmytriv, Dyhdalovych, and Parashchuk claimed that they were shot from the Berkut barricade shifted the wound locations from sides and back to front and made their steep directions practically horizontal, contrary to the exact locations of the wounds in the forensic medical examinations and videos. The Maidan victims’ lawyer commissioned the SITU architectural company model with the fabricated results (Video, 2023g, 05:09). Similarly, the SITU model, like the government investigation, failed to show that the specific times and directions of Berkut shooting coincided with the times of killings and wounding of specific Maidan protesters. Although the SITU model site contains precisely synchronized videos using computer software, these videos are shown separately (Euromaidan, 2018). Since omitting such clear proof of the massacre of specific protesters by Berkut would have been irrational, the failure to show such evidence confirms that it does not exist.

Roman Huryk was killed near that wall at 9:56 am. His position and steep right to left direction bullet holes in his white helmet in a video shown at the trial indicate that he was killed from Bank Arkada because it was located in that very direction. The prosecution did not present his helmet as evidence. Wounds on sides of the neck and their steep direction suggest that Evhen Kotliar was killed from the same building, while an on-site investigative experiment for the prosecution found that he was shot from Hotel Ukraina. He was shot within 2 seconds after Huryk was killed a couple of meters away.

A female Maidan medic in a BBC video and a protester in a French photographer video pointed out the roof of Bank Arkada as the location of snipers within minutes of killing of these three activists (Video, 2023a) (Fig. 3.5).

Fig. 3.5

(Photo by the author)

Bank Arkada

His position in the video, an on-site investigative experiment, and his wound locations and directions in the forensic medical examination and the bullet hole in his blue helmet suggest that Ustym Holodniuk was killed in the same area at 9:54 am in a right back side of his blue helmet with the exit wound in front area of the head from Muzeinyi Lane direction.

Berkut policemen were taking cover from the live ammunition fire from the direction of the Maidan-controlled areas at the time when Holodniuk and Huryk were killed, in addition to several other casualties among the protesters there (see Video, 2023a).

Volodymyr Movchan was filmed being dragged away after his wounding in the head there. Volodymyr Honcharovsky, who was wounded in his back at the same spot at 9:50 am, said that the protesters were shot from behind. The government investigation determined, based on testimonies and investigative experiments, that these two protesters were among about half of Maidan activists, who were wounded from other sectors than ones occupied by the Berkut police area and did not charge anyone (Video, 2023a; Chapter 6 and 8).

A forensic medical report, which identified Yuri Kravchuk's entry wound in his left knee and exit wound in left thigh, and his position in the video suggest that he was shot at 9:56 am from this hotel. He testified and a forensic expert determined that he was wounded twice from Bank Arkada (Chapter 5).

At the time of the massacre of these activists, Maidan speakers from the Maidan stage relayed warning by protesters about a snipers coordinator on nearby Trade Union building and asked to check if he was from the Maidan or not. A Maidan stage speaker also said that “our guys” captured one of female snipers. A protester pointed in the direction of that Horodetsky Street building and said that activists were shot from its roof window.

Warnings were also relayed from the Maidan stage at 10:01 am about “three snipers” visible on the roof of Zhovtnevyi Palace. An ICTV reporter on the ground referred to these “snipers” shooting from Zhovtnevyi Palace. A Polish TV video showed within minutes a Maidan activist near a roof window of Zhovtnevyi Palace. Protesters reported that this was one of locations of “snipers” who massacred the protesters. A Polish reporter was filmed on the top floor of Zhovtnevyi Palace at 10:16 am, and on its roof with a group of apparent Maidan spotters several minutes later. He said that this building was occupied by the Maidan for a few dozen minutes. He proceeded to its library, which was also occupied by protesters. A caption of a photo taken by a photographer in the Zhovtnevyi Palace library soon afterwards stated that protesters told him that it was used by a “sniper” to shoot at the Maidan protesters (Video, 2023a).

There were no Berkut policemen shooting or any signs of a gunshot visible from the truck barricade at the time of the wounding of Roman Kotliarevsky, a Maidan medic, in a German ARD TV video at 10:16 am. A National Bank security camera video, which is precisely synchronized with the German and CNN videos of his wounding based on the matching content and timestamps of the security camera video, shows that the Berkut police were hiding at that time behind the truck barricade and did not aim their Kalashnikovs in the direction of Kotliarevsky. The prosecution and Maidan victims lawyers claimed during the trial that this Maidan medic was wounded by a Berkut policeman from this barricade. Kotliarevsky testified during an investigative experiment that he was wounded from Bank Arkada because of the top to bottom direction of his wound and its location on the back of his right thigh. A wound X-ray showed that the bullet was at a steep angle. A government ballistic expert also determined that the fire sector was from Hotel Ukraina to Bank Arkada (see Video, 2023g).

In essence, the content analysis reveals that prosecution, like numerous media reports, claimed that invisible police shot these protesters from invisible weapons. The lack of such literally smoking gun of the Berkut policemen visible at the time, place, and direction of killings and wounding of the absolute majority of the Maidan protesters is “the dog that did not bark.” Such an absence of a reaction that was supposed to happen but did not occur represents revelatory evidence.

The bullet holes identified in government forensic expert reports, videos, and photos from the directions of Hotel Ukraina and other Maidan-controlled buildings are in the areas, heights, and directions that match the shooting of the protesters. Visual reconstruction based on similar data shows that the Berkut police and Omega were generally shooting above protesters on the second and higher floors of Hotel Ukraina and in electric poles, and trees. It also shows that they did not target Maidan protesters because of the lack of bullet holes on the first floor of Hotel Ukraina, which was located behind several dozen protesters who were killed and wounded in that area. Forensic examinations by government investigators did not report a single bullet hole on the hotel’s first (ground) floor that was located at the height of the protesters (Chapter 6).

The video shows the wounding of Ivan Halamai (Video, 2023a). The forensic medical examination found that he was shot in his right buttock area from back to front direction with the bullet ending in his right leg significantly lower. The locations and the steep direction of the bullet wounds, his position in the video at the time of his shooting, and the steep slope of the bullet in an X-ray in the upper left leg pointed to a gunshot from the top of Bank Arkada and not from the Berkut barricade.

A forensic medical examination revealed that Volodymyr Chaplynsky was shot dead from a steep angle in his left neck with bullet exiting much lower in right shoulder. Zelenyi Front video showed that his left side was towards Bank Arkada when he started to run at 10:26 am. The same video and the ABC News video showed that his left side was towards Hotel Ukraina when he fell to the ground when there was another gunshot. A French photographer filmed killing of Viktor Chmilenko in the same area at 10:28 am. His wound locations and their steep angle point to the gunshot from the hotel. A forensic report revealed that he was shot by “Springfield” bullet that did not match caliber of weapons used by Berkut but is used in hunting (Video, 2023a; Chapter 6).

A Maidan activist said after carrying his body that Leonid Poliansky was killed from Hotel Ukraina when he stood near him. The victim was an ethnic Pole. He was killed on the Maidan-facing side of the hotel at 10:31 am (Video, 2023a).

At least 10 videos and photos showed Maidan snipers and spotters in Hotel Ukraina and Zhovtnevyi Palace during the massacre of the protesters. There were more than 100 testimonies and reports in the media and the social media about such snipers during the massacre itself. They also showed that these buildings were controlled by Maidan forces at that time. There were protesters, including armed ones from the far-right-linked special Maidan company, inside and outside of these buildings within or around the same time, and on the same floors and the roof that snipers were filmed or reported by several hundreds of protesters and journalists during and after the massacre (see Video, 2023a; Chapter 4 and 5).

For instance, a Ukrainian ICTV video showed at 10:25 am a sniper hiding behind the curtains of a window on the 11th floor of Hotel Ukraina and firing in the direction of Maidan protesters. An ICTV reporter stated in this video that snipers from Hotel Ukraina were shooting the advancing protesters in the back. A BBC video showed a sniper firing at 10:28 am in the direction of the BBC television crew and the protesters there from an open window on the same 11th floor of the hotel, and the protesters running for cover and shouting “snipers” while pointing towards the hotel. The BBC correspondent in his news report and in his tweet identified the shooter as having a green helmet worn by Maidan protesters. The government investigation revealed that one of the far-right Svoboda leaders lived in this hotel room at the time of the massacre (see Video, 2023c, 06:23). A Maidan protester from this BBC video testified at the trial that he was told by other protesters that this was “our sniper.” He said that he saw a sniper in another Hotel Ukraina room window, giving visual signs to the protesters to avoid revealing these snipers (Video, 2023c; Chapter 5).

Just a few minutes before this, CNN and Spilno TV videos recorded on the same 11th floor voices of a group of Maidan protesters talking about searching for positions to shoot (see Video, 2023a, 52:14). The Spilno TV reporter said in his online stream that these were armed Maidan protesters, in particular, with “AKM” Kalashnikovs, hunting weapons, and Mosin rifles. He testified at the trial that the same armed Maidan group was entering the same hotel room on the same 11th floor around the time when he streamed from this room around 9:35 am (see Chapter 5). This is evidence that the Maidan group members either included snipers who shot the Maidan protesters, or that they regarded snipers who shot the protesters, specifically during the same time and from the same Hotel Ukraina floor, as not hostile and therefore did not stop them from massacring the protesters.

Videos show that the Maidan forces not only controlled the entrances and exits to Hotel Ukraina before, during, and after the massacre of the protesters, but also that armed Maidan groups were on the same floors that protesters and journalists identified as locations of snipers around the same time. In particular, they were filmed by BBC, CNN, and Spilno TV on the 11th floor, particularly in the room of one of the Svoboda Party leaders. Snipers were reported in the room of another Svoboda leader, Iryna Farion, and in another room on the same hotel floor. Many other Svoboda deputies lived on this floor, and videos showed that they stayed in the hotel during the massacre. The far-right Svoboda Party, a Maidan Self-Defense commander in the hotel, and the hotel staff stated that Hotel Ukraina was seized and guarded by the Maidan forces since the end of January 2014 (Video, 2023b).

In its official statement, the far-right Svoboda Party stated that its activists took Hotel Ukraina under their control and guard on January 25, 2014. A similar statement was made by the Svoboda leader on the Maidan stage (Maidan, 2014; VO, 2014). A Svoboda deputy stated that all (38) Svoboda parliament members, most of whom lived in the hotel, were in this hotel when the massacre started (Braty, 2017, 217).

A BBC video showed one of Svoboda leaders along with a few Maidan protesters guarding the entrance to the stairways and elevators in the hotel shortly after 9:51 am (Video, 2023a, 36:50). Armed Svoboda activists were filmed in this hotel by BBC. Guardian journalists reported that armed Svoboda activists told them that there were snipers in the hotel and showed them empty Kalashnikov bullet boxes in Hotel Ukraina (Traynor & Salem, 2014).

A group of Maidan protesters with at least one handgun, an axe, and a long tennis bag, which is a convenient way to hide and carry weapons, broke into a hotel room on the 14th floor of the hotel around 10:12 am. French Itele, AFP, and Ukraina TV videos showed the commander and members of the far-right-linked special Maidan company, who were armed with a Kalashnikov-type firearm and hunting rifles, running into the hotel at 10:18 am and then taking an elevator to the 10th floor. Among them, running was the same protester in a gas mask, who shortly before was filmed luring the group of protesters, and then returning to the hotel unharmed after they were massacred (Video, 2023a, 37:52, 44:27).

The commander and a few members of this group were filmed in Ruptly and German TV videos when one of them was shooting from a hunting rifle from the 14th floor of Hotel Ukraina at 10:20–10:22 am. Ruptly and ZDF videos showed the commander and members of the special Maidan company accompanied by one of the Svoboda leaders when at least one of them was shooting in the direction of the protesters from the same 14th floor of Hotel Ukraina and then moved to a lower floor because of the presence of journalists (Video, 2023a, 45:33). A time-stamped Facebook post by a Spilno TV reporter at 12:40 pm stated that there were snipers on the 14th floor who were shooting protesters on the Maidan. Protesters also testified that there were “snipers” on the 14th floor of the hotel (Spilnobachennia, 2014).

A Ruptly reporter showed that he was grazed by a bullet, while armed Maidan activists were at that time filmed on the same 14th floor of Hotel Ukraina. The holes in the hotel window from a bullet that hit the Ruptly reporter point to an apparent gunshot from a Berkut position. The investigation found at least 12 bullets on the walls of such top floors and on the roof of Hotel Ukraina. This is consistent with the Berkut police shooting at snipers or suspected snipers in this Maidan-controlled hotel (Video, 2023a).

Video (2023a), media and witness reports, and statements from the Maidan stage show that there were several searches for snipers in Hotel Ukraina by groups of Maidan protesters during the massacre from around noon until the evening of February 20. They reported that no snipers were found, but the positions of snipers were found, and witness reports about snipers in the hotel continued despite these comprehensive searches. Synchronized videos show only members of the armed group of snipers from the special armed Maidan company not only entering the hotel at 10:16 am, but also exiting it without any interference at around 11:00 am and in the late afternoon. It was rational for Maidan activists who searched the hotel to assume that snipers were not from the Maidan units and only search for government snipers. There were a few warnings made from the Maidan stage in the afternoon and evening on February 20 about snipers in Hotel Ukraina after the repeated searches did not identify any snipers there (Video, 2023a).

Similarly, videos and photos showed Maidan protesters inside, near entrances, on the roof, and in the roof window of Zhovtnevyi Palace during the same time as announcers on the Maidan stage relayed warnings about snipers there, particularly massacring protesters. A Maidan activist said that snipers were shooting from Zhovtnevyi Palace and buildings behind it.

A Polish journalist video showed snipers on the roofs of the Main Post Office, which was then the Right Sector Headquarters, and the directly adjacent Finbank building shortly after Smolensky was killed, and a female Maidan medic was photographed and filmed as wounded in the same area of the Maidan. A protester stated that he witnessed both of them being shot from the Main Post Office building (see Video, 2023a, 01:11:16). Videos, testimonies reported by a Ukrainian journalist, her medical records, and her own de facto admission indicated that her wounding was staged with involvement of the Maidan Self-Defense leadership, and her neck wound was in fact a result of a prior surgery (Chapter 4 and 5).

Fig. 3.6

(Photo by the author)

Hotel Kozatsky (on the right)

Similarly, the Kozatsky Hotel was the headquarters of the Neo-Nazi Patriot of Ukraine, which joined the Right Sector during the Maidan. The Patriot of Ukraine organized and led the Azov battalion during the war in Donbas. Maidan protesters reported that there were snipers in this hotel, which was located on the Maidan, for almost the entire duration of the massacre (Fig 3.6). Videos and photos show Maidan protesters inside the hotel searching for snipers (see Video, 2023a).

Videos and photos also showed that Maidan protesters were near Bank Arkada, Horodetsky Street, and Muzeinyi Lane buildings when protesters pointed to the snipers there (see Video, 2023a). This means that it was possible for protesters, in particular armed ones, to enter these buildings and neutralize these snipers, and that it was not possible for snipers to exit the buildings without being noticed by the protesters.

There are more than 80 videos or testimonies during the massacre itself, primarily by the Maidan protesters and journalists from Ukraine and many other countries, about snipers in the Maidan-controlled buildings and areas. For instance, Oleksii Butorin said in a 1+1 interview during the massacre that eight protesters were killed from Hotel Ukraina in half an hour. He witnessed one shot from the hotel. Another protester said that he witnessed a protester next to him being killed at 10:31 am from Hotel Ukraina. Protesters at 10:25 a.m. pointed to shooting by snipers from the pendulum floor of Hotel Ukraina. This indicates either the 11th floor in the hotel wings or the 13th floor in its central part (Video, 2023a) (Fig. 3.7).

Fig. 3.7

(Photo by the author)

Main Maidan massacre epicenter in front of Hotel Ukraina

Protesters including a teenage protester were filmed running away at 10:30 am after a warning by other activists that they [snipers] were behind, i.e., the Maidan-controlled area, in particular, Hotel Ukraina. This teenage protester stated in his media interview that they came under live ammunition fire from Hotel Ukraina and in his Maidan massacre trial testimony that protesters were referring to Maidan snipers shooting Maidan activists. This information was not included in the Oscar-nominated documentary Winter on Fire, which featured the video of this teenage activist (Video, 2023a; Chapter 5).

A protester at 10:30 a.m. pointed to a “sniper” shooting from the 9th floor of the hotel. A different Maidan activist said that another protester was killed from Hotel Ukraina when he stood near him. Two protesters stated that “snipers” on Hotel Ukraina shot protesters in the back and also pointed out snipers in the buildings on Horodetsky Street or Bank Arkada. The news report of the 1+1 TV channel stated that Maidan Self-Defense reported that snipers from Hotel Ukraina roof were shooting protesters. The 24 Kanal reported that snipers Hotel Ukraina were shooting protesters. An announcement from the Maidan stage reported “confirmed information” from the Maidan Self-Defense about three snipers on Bank Arkada (see Video, 2023a).

Maidan protesters in an NBC video warned about snipers on the roof of Hotel Ukraina, but the NBC did not report this. The ABC News journalists falsely reported during the massacre that government snipers took positions on the upper floors of Hotel Ukraina where these American and many other journalists were staying. But the ABC News report showed the far-right-linked company of Maidan snipers arriving in the hotel.

A Maidan protester said in a Finish TV interview in the hotel lobby that snipers on Hotel Ukraina roof were shooting protesters. A female Maidan medic pointed in a British Channel 4 video that there were three snipers on the right in the area of Bank Arkada and Hotel Ukraina and two snipers on the left in the area of Muzeinyi Lane and Zhovtnevyi Palace. But the report included an incorrect translation of her. Another video shows protesters during the massacre pointing out “snipers” positions in Bank Arkada, Zhovtnevyi Palace, and Muzeinyi Lane buildings. Another protester said that a steep direction and wound locations of a shot protester pointed to Hotel Ukraina (Video, 2023a).

A French TV journalist and the Spilno TV streamer on the 11th floor pointed in the recording of the online stream shooting by snipers in Hotel Ukraina. The Spilno TV streamer was told in 10:55 am in presence of a French TV crew that the Maidan Self-Defense with Kalashnikovs carried away one or two snipers from the 11th or the 10th floor of the hotel. The Spilno TV streamer in Hotel Ukraina said that there were shots from open windows in another wing of the hotel during the day, and said that he saw them closing after the gunshots. He said that he saw shooting from one of the side hotel rooms, specifically a toilet on the 9th or 10th floor, and reported that there was a search for this sniper in the evening in the hotel. A Maidan stage speaker relayed at 10:59 am a warning from protesters about three snipers shooting protesters from Hotel Ukraina (Video, 2023a).

Two armed protesters tried to search for “snipers” on the upper floors and on the roof of Hotel Ukraina, but they were refused entrance by the hotel security and the Maidan guards. Some armed special Maidan company members left the hotel in presence of Svoboda deputies and journalists, while an unidentified person was interrogated on his knees. His black clothes and balaklava matched some descriptions of Hotel Ukraina snipers in testimonies of wounded Maidan protesters. The CNN and Vice News videos show armed members of the special Maidan company near Hotel Ukraina circa 11:00 am. They said that there was a sniper in Hotel Ukraina who shot at the Maidan protesters (Video, 2023a).

When Serhiy Melnychuk was killed at 4:51 pm, several protesters and a Bild journalist near him all stated that he was shot from Hotel Ukraina. A female Maidan medic on the Maidan and Spilno TV journalists inside the hotel stated the same (Video, 2023a, 01:16:55). His wife, who was near Melnychuk during his death, testified at the trial and BBC and Hromadkse TV interviews that the gunshot was from this hotel. A forensic expert, based on the position of Melnychuk and his wound locations and directions in forensic medical examinations, made the same determination (Chapters 4 and 5) (Fig. 3.8).

Fig. 3.8

(Photo by the author)

Makeshift memorial to Serhiy Melnychuk on the site of his killing

In their intercepted radio communications, the SBU Alfa commanders reported that hostile snipers were moving to Hotel Ukraina (Video, 2023a, 46:24). Their intercepted radio communications show that SBU Alfa snipers were deployed in the Cabmin building only after 10:30 am, attempted to locate snipers in Hotel Ukraina and other Maidan-controlled buildings, and did not massacre the protesters. SBU Alfa snipers radio communications reported suspected snipers or spotters on the roofs of Kinopalats and Horodetsky Street buildings.

A government sniper was only filmed on the Cabmin building around noon after all but one protester were already killed. The synchronized videos show that the Omega unit of snipers arrived at the Berkut barricade area and received permission to use live ammunition against snipers in Maidan-controlled buildings circa 10:37 am after all but three protesters were already killed. Omega snipers then aimed their rifles not at the protesters, but at Hotel Ukraina windows far above the protesters (Video, 2023a, 58:56).

The killings and wounding of protesters in the Instytutska Street area facing the Berkut, Alfa, and Omega positions practically stopped after the arrival of government snipers. The only exception was the killing of Oleksandr Khrapachenko at 11:27 am (see Video, 2023a, 01:08:17). The prosecution initially found that he was killed from Hotel Ukraina, but then charged special Berkut company members on their barricade and, in 2020, an Omega sniper in the Cabmin Club with his killing. Video (2023a) shows that it was physically impossible because forensic medical and ballistic examinations revealed that he was shot by a rusted expanding hunting bullet in the back at a steep top to bottom direction when he faced Berkut and Omega in front of him. Black smoke covered him from the Cabmin Club and Berkut barricade. Two protesters testified that he was shot from Hotel Ukraina and other Maidan-controlled buildings. For example, Pastushok testified that Khrapachenko was shot from the left wing of Hotel Ukraina and that the protesters were shot at from Hotel Ukraina when he carried Khrapachenko (Chapter 5).

A salvo of gunshots at 11:32–11:33 am matched sounds of coordinated shooting by a group of snipers in their intercepted radio communication that was recorded by a Maidan protester on the Maidan. One of these snipers talked about an apparent Transcaucasian accent, which is consistent with media interviews by several Georgian snipers (Video, 2023a, 01:09:19). Their open communication about shooting, in contrast to the use of code terms by the SBU Alfa snipers in their radio communication, and the Maidan Self-Defense and GPU refusals to locate and identify these snipers suggest that they were from the Maidan opposition side. A Maidan activist said that he gave this intercepted communication recording to a Maidan Self-Defense company commander, but he ignored it, and communications of this group of “snipers” continued until the next day.

The Radical Party leader stated from the Maidan stage after this salvo that snipers were walking and shooting behind the Monument of Independence column which is located on the Maidan Square between the stage and Hotel Ukraina. A group of unidentified men were filmed on Zhovtnevyi Palace roof a couple of minutes after this salvo (Video, 2023a).

Videos show that during the massacre, several Maidan leaders, particularly leaders of the Fatherland and Svoboda parties, spoke from the Maidan stage, which faced Hotel Ukraina and other buildings from which snipers shot Maidan protesters, in particular, killing two protesters within dozens of meters from the stage before and after speeches by the Maidan leaders from the stage (see Video, 2023a; Vysota, 2017b). Similarly, many members of parliament from Svoboda were inside and near the hotel during the entire massacre. In particular, a video by a Maidan activist and their own statements revealed that the Svoboda deputies were on the 11th floor, including in their own rooms at the very time when snipers were located on this floor, including in the room of one of the Svoboda deputies, and shot Maidan protesters (Kogda, 2014). For example, the GPU investigation revealed in 2015 that two Svoboda deputies lived in hotel rooms located next to another Svoboda deputy room, from which, as the BBC and ICTV videos and testimonies of the BBC journalist and Maidan protesters show, snipers shot at the BBC television crew and Maidan protesters. One of the Svoboda leaders admitted in 2015 that he was filming the massacre from a room located next to the Svoboda deputy room with the snipers (Svobodivtsi, 2015).

Svoboda deputies did not warn Maidan protesters and foreign journalists, in particular, those who were shot by snipers located in this hotel, including on their floor and their neighboring rooms, or were in the lobby of the hotel at that time. Such actions by these Maidan leaders and Svoboda deputies suggest that they did not fear snipers and that they knew that these snipers were not from a government or any other hostile force but from the Maidan or other friendly covert force and would not shoot the Maidan leaders on the stage and Svoboda deputies in or near Hotel Ukraina.

Videos and statements by some Maidan activists in the social media show that Maidan leaders, in particular, oligarchic and far-right, evacuated around the midnight captured snipers along with captured Internal Troops members despite attempts by Maidan protesters to block the bus with them (Video, 2023a).

Two Maidan leaders admitted during the massacre that snipers located in Hotel Ukraina were killing Maidan activists. But they claimed that these were Yanukovych government snipers, contrary to the evidence. Arsenii Yatseniuk, who became the prime minister of Ukraine after Maidan, stated during the massacre that snipers shot protesters from Hotel Ukraina (Yatseniuk, 2014). Petro Poroshenko, who became a president of Ukraine, also stated in the Ukrainian parliament speech on the day of the massacre that snipers in Hotel Ukraina were killing “innocent boys and girls” (Ofitsiinyi, 2014a).

Several dozen journalists from a dozen countries reported in the media or the social media during the massacre about witnessing snipers in Hotel Ukraina and other Maidan-controlled buildings and areas, in particular, shooting of Maidan protesters by these snipers, cited eyewitnesses among Maidan activists about such snipers, or based their reports on such testimonies. In addition to cited reports from ABC, CNN, BBC, the Guardian, ITV, Bild, TVP, 1+1, 5 Kanal, 24 Kanal, 112, ICTV, RT, and Spilne TV, they included TT News Agency, Novyi Kanal, and Kyiv Post. But they, with couple of exceptions, stated or implied that these were government snipers, contrary to all the evidence.

3.2 Shooting at Western, Polish, and Russian Journalists During the Maidan Massacre

The analysis of videos, photos, forensic examinations by government investigators, and reports by journalists in the media and social media concerning the locations of these Hotel Ukraina rooms and timing of the shooting at journalists from ABC News (US), ABC (Australia), ARD (Germany) twice, the Associated Press (US), BBC (UK) twice, TVP (Poland), RT (Russia), and Sky News (UK) shows that they were also shot at by snipers from Maidan-controlled buildings and areas, in particular, the Right Sector headquarters, the Music Conservatory, and Bank Arkada. This is consistent with a reported testimony of self-admitted Maidan snipers from Georgia that the former leader of Georgia ordered to kill a foreign journalist during the massacre (General, 2021).

As noted, BBC TV journalists filmed and reported that sniper in a Maidan-style helmet shot at them from the 11th floor of Hotel Ukraina. The government investigation revealed that a deputy from the far-right Svoboda Party then occupied this hotel room. The verdict confirmed that the BBC TV crew was shot at from this “activist-controlled” hotel (Chapter 8).

A Ukrainian TV video showed a bullet hole and its impact in room 925 of Hotel Ukraina and that this bullet narrowly missed the German ARD TV female producer. The Maidan massacre trial verdict and the visual examinations of these bullet holes and their impact points by the government investigators confirmed that this German ARD TV room was shot at from the direction of the Main Post Office, which was the Right Sector headquarters. The verdict and a forensic examination by government experts established that a likely bullet trajectory in room 825 pointed to the roof of the Music Conservatory building, which was headquarters of the far-right-linked company of snipers. But the government investigation and the trial did not reveal that these rooms were occupied by the German TV journalists (Video, 2023f).

A RT journalist reported during the massacre that a bullet narrowly missed him when he was in Hotel Ukraina room for the live broadcast. He showed that the bullet trajectory pointed to a gunshot from the Music Conservatory. A Fox News reporter went to room 628 to film the bullet holes for his report about the Maidan massacre, but he was told that government experts did not go there to examine the bullet holes. No Fox News report about this can be found. A broadcast by the Australian ABC News journalist revealed that he was shot at in his Hotel Ukraina room facing the Maidan. The timing of the gunshot after the police retreat and its steep upward trajectory suggest that it came from a Maidan-controlled area. Videos show that the police did not shoot at the hotel direction during its brief advance.

A Sky News journalist reported that a bullet flew in their Hotel Ukraina room. The time of her tweet and her photo taken a day before suggest that it was likely shot at from the Maidan-controlled area. A statement by a BBC producer to ABC News and his photo two days before suggest that the BBC room was also likely shot at from the Maidan-controlled area. The information about his room facing Maidan (Independence Square) and the apparent timing of the shooting in the AP report indicate that the journalist from this leading US news agency was shot at in his Hotel Ukraina room from a Maidan-controlled area.

The bullet hole and impact locations in the American ABC News Hotel Ukraina room 926 indicate that the gunshot that missed the American journalist was from Bank Arkada. The Maidan massacre trial judge and a Berkut lawyer stated that it could not be physically shot from the ground level of the Berkut barricade because the entry hole and bullet impacts in the wall were at similar heights. The forensic ballistic examination made public at the trial revealed that the bullet was a Winchester caliber hunting soft point, which did not fit calibers of Berkut firearms. A Polish TVP TV journalist said that he saw “a sniper” on Bank Arkada roof and that a TVP producer was shot in his Hotel Ukraina room from there, judging by the direction of bullet holes. In contrast, such evidence suggests that a ricochet that hit a Ruptly reporter on the top floor of Hotel Ukraina was from Berkut police shooting which targeted snipers there. There is contradictory evidence or lack of evidence in case of shooting at other Russian journalists (see Video, 2023f).

3.3 Overthrow of the Yanukovych Government

The deputy head of the Ukrainian parliament from the far-right Svoboda Party convened in the late afternoon on February 20, 2014, an emergency parliament session. As noted, this Svoboda leader was filmed with a handgun accompanying the far-right-linked group of snipers in Hotel Ukraina during the massacre. He along with other Maidan opposition leaders and deputies falsely blamed Yanukovych and his forces for this massacre. The parliament voted by a slim majority to withdraw the government forces from downtown Kyiv. However, this deputy head of the Ukrainian parliament admitted that he opened the parliament session without quorum and in violation of the parliament regulations. A Svoboda deputy stated that they voted for the absent deputies (Braty, 2017).

Far-right commander of far-right-linked company of Maidan snipers issued on February 21 from the Maidan stage an ultimatum to Yanukovych with threats to use weapons if he won’t resign and falsely blaming him for the Maidan massacre of activists, in which his far-right group of snipers was involved. The Maidan Self-Defense head, who was then a deputy from the Fatherland Party, admitted approving this ultimatum in advance. Dmytro Yarosh, the Right Sector leader, issued a similar ultimatum to Yanukovych from the Maidan stage (see Chapter 1).

The deputy parliament head from Svoboda also opened a parliament session on February 22 to remove Yanukovych from presidency. The parliament vote to oust Yanukovych for “abandoning presidency” was unconstitutional, lacked required 338 vote majority, and was done under duress, and its 328 “yes” vote was fabricated. According to official record, 248 deputies out of 450 were registered at the opening (Ofitsiinyi, 2024b). Many Yanukovych Party deputies switched loyalty, but many others voted under threat of violence by the far-right group of Maidan snipers, the Maidan Self-Defense, and a mob which surrounded the parliament. The commander of the far-right-linked Maidan company of snipers admitted that his group brought by force deputies from the Yanukovych Party of Regions to vote for his removal. The number of present deputies in various videos of this vote was about 262 (see, for example, Al Jazeera, 2014). A member of Maidan leadership, who headed then a parliamentary committee, stated that Maidan opposition leaders seized duplicate cards of absent deputies and used them to fraudulently inflate this vote and other votes which put leaders of Fatherland and Svoboda, which were involved in the false-flag Maidan massacre, in top government positions. Yanukovych fled from Kyiv and then Ukraine because of assassination attempts against him, in particular with involvement of the far-right Right Sector and Svoboda (see Chapter 1; Katchanovski, forthcoming).

Main findings of the video reconstruction and content analysis of the massacre on February 20 are summarized in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Summary of the video reconstruction and content analysis of the Maidan massacre on February 20, 2014