May 2 Odessa Tragedy: Horrifying Images of Mass Murder

The fire in Trade Unions House broke out in the evening of 2 May 2014. It followed clashes between supporters and opponents of Euromaidan that took place in Odessa on the same day. Six people were killed in the clashes in the city centre, and the official version stated that 42 died in the fire in the Trade Unions House.

Shortly before the tragedy, members of radical pro-Maidan nationalist groups as well as “Ultras” football hooligans arrived in Odessa and staged a march “For the Unity of Ukraine”, which ended in clashes, with thugs setting fire to the tents set up by anti-Maidan protesters on Kulikovo Pole Square. Anti-Maidan activists tried to defend themselves by retreating to the Trade Unions House. The radicals blocked the exits of the building. A fire soon broke out.

When the fire brigade arrived, a fire was raging inside the Trade Unions House.

People tried to get out of the building, engulfed in flames, jumping out of windows to their deaths. Pro-Maidan activists finished off some of the wounded on the ground.

When the fire had been put out, it was clear that the Trade Unions House had become a new Khatyn massacre. Dozens of bodies were lying in the premises.

Some were burned alive, others suffocated. Many of the dead had only the upper parts of their bodies burnt. This indicated that their heads may have been doused with a flammable mixture.

The body of one of the deceased outside the Trade Unions House.

Last respects for Dmitry Nikityuk, who was killed in the Trade Unions House. The investigation has never named the perpetrators and no one has been punished so far.

The 2 May Odessa Tragedy was a turning point in Ukrainian society and in many ways made the conflict inevitable.