39 Die in Odessa as Pro-regime Rioters Set Trade Union Building Ablaze
http://my.firedoglake.com/fairleft/2014/05/02/at-least-31-die-in-odessa-after-pro-regime-rioters-set-trade-union-building-ablaze/#.U2efXUllBnU.facebook
By: fairleft Friday May 2, 2014 1:23 pm
Today was a chaotic day in Ukraine, and there were riots in its southern city of Odessa, but whatever the Western media megaphone tells you, it’s pretty clear that
“39 die in Odessa as pro-regime rioters set trade union building ablaze”
Alec Luhn @ASLuhn
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Pro-Russian protestors reportedly jumping from windows of burning House of Trade Unions in #Odessa.Pic by @howardamos
12:09 PM - 2 May 2014
But with the honorable exception of the UK’s Guardian, that’s not what you’ll read in the news. The Western media avoids telling the truth when it violates the narrative that only the ‘other side’ has bad guys and does bad things. So you’re gonna get faux confusion and ‘both sides equally responsible’ sentences such as the following (apologies for not correcting ‘pro-Russian’ to ‘pro-federalist’ or ‘pro-autonomy’):
CNN:It is unclear how the fire began, but it comes amid ongoing clashes between pro-Kiev and pro-Russian protesters.
Globe & Mail: … most caught in a building set on fire after pro-Russian activists and supporters of Ukrainian unity fought running battles across the southern port city.
BBC: At least 31 people have been killed in a fire in an official building amid violence in Odessa in south-west Ukraine, the interior ministry says. The deaths came as pro-Russian protesters clashed with Ukrainian government supporters in the city.
Global Post: At least 30 people died in the port city of Odessa on Friday, most of them from smoke inhalation after a building caught fire amid violent protests.
USA Today: Police in the Black Sea port of Odessa said late Friday that 31 people died when a union hall was set ablaze as pro-Russia demonstrators battled in the streets with Ukrainian loyalists.
FULL story at link.
= new reply since forum marked as read
What happened in Odessa was mob violence at its very worst. No one, I repeat no one, should have died. However, both sides share the blame in precipitating the chaotic situation.
I know that the Pro-Russian side (and yes, they are "Pro-Russian"--they fly the Russian flag, they chant "Russia" at rallies, and they desire to join Russia. They're "Pro-Russia"
wants to frame it as though the Pro-Ukrainian side went up to the trade union totally unprovoked and burned the building down.
What had actually happened was that earlier, there was a Pro-Ukrainian unity rally in Odessa. It began peacefully; however, pro-Russian demonstrators started to attack the rally with sticks and stones and Molotovs. Both sides hunkered down, and the Pro-Ukrainian side started to return with stones and molotovs of their own.
Then gunmen on rooftops, clearly identifiable as Pro-Russian, started shooting at the crowd, killing multiple members of the Ukrainian side. I was watching this live as it occurred. This is exactly what I saw:
Eventually, the police moved in and broke up the street riot in the square. At that point, the Pro-Russian side retreated to the union building, and the Pro-Ukrainian side, enraged by the deadly shootings, followed them. There were molotovs aimed at the trade union building by the Pro-Ukrainian crowd, but also moltovs reportedly thrown out of the building by the Pro-Russian side.
In the end, there were no innocent angels in any of this. It was all unruly mob violence. From the Ukrainian perspective, it was incredibly stupid to follow the Pro-Russians back to the trade union building, because if they hadn't, the story would have remained that Pro-Russian supporters had fired guns on the Ukrainians and killed several of them. But unfortunately mob mentality took overall better judgment. And yes, they were most definitely--and lethally--provoked by the Pro-Russian side.
