Activist Groups To Commemorate 2014 Odessa Massacre In US, Canada, Europe - Coordinator

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd May, 2022) A number of US activist groups will commemorate the 2014 massacre in the city of Odessa by organizing public events in the United States, Canada and Europe, Odessa Solidarity Campaign coordinator Phil Wilayto told Sputnik.

"This year we have been working with two other organizations - the Union of Political Emigrants and Political Prisoners of Ukraine, which is made up of people who have been forced to leave Ukraine due to political repression there or who have been imprisoned by the Ukrainian government; and the Coop Anti-War Cafe, a gathering place for local and international peace activists in Berlin, Germany," Wilayto said. "Together we issued an appeal for international solidarity with the people of Odessa, encouraging local actions on May 2 with the slogans 'NO to Fascism! NO to NATO! YES to a Multipolar World based on Cooperation, not Confrontation!'"

Wilayto noted that the organizers are still compiling a list of cities that will hold events, adding, "We know they will take place in Europe, Canada and the United States, at least."

The organizers are also creating a webinar with representatives from the three organizations and that will be ready to post content online on May 2, Wilayto said.

"The webinar goes over the processes and events that have led up to the present crisis in Ukraine: the steady, eastward expansion of NATO and the US support for the right-wing coup of 2014 that led to the Odessa Massacre, as well as to the developments in Crimea and the Donbas," he said.

Wilayto pointed out that each year, the Odessa Solidarity Campaign - a project of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality - encourages local action around the world to commemorate the tragic events of May 2, 2014, when at least 42 people were murdered by a fascist-led mob at the House of Trade Unions in Odessa, Ukraine.

Wilayto said the activists have been doing this since they traveled to Odessa on May 2, 2016, in the role of international observers to attend the second annual memorial of the massacre.

"In years past, there have been as many as 20 local events across Europe and North America to honor the victims and to support the ongoing demand of the people of Odessa for an international investigation into the mass murders, something the Ukrainian government has never allowed," he said.

On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian national-chauvinists locked protesters in Odessa's Trade Unions House and set the building on fire. Almost 50 people died and some 250 other protesters were injured in clashes with the extremists, according to the United Nations.