US Activists Hope New Ukraine Govt To Probe Odessa Massacre, Likely To Appeal To Zelenskyy

US activists are hopeful that the new Ukrainian government will investigate the 2014 massacre in Odessa and will likely appeal to the administration of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, United National Antiwar Coalition coordinator Joe Lombardo told Sputnik

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th July, 2019) US activists are hopeful that the new Ukrainian government will investigate the 2014 massacre in Odessa and will likely appeal to the administration of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, United National Antiwar Coalition coordinator Joe Lombardo told Sputnik.

When asked whether they plan to make an appeal to the Zelenskyy administration regarding the probe into the Odessa tragedy, Lombardo said, "Yes, we probably will do that."

"Whether or not we can really get to him - that I don't know. But we'll probably make another appeal with the folks we're working with in Odessa," he said, stressing that those responsible must be brought to justice. "A lot of evidence has been destroyed now. They didn't rope off the area or take the evidence of the shooting. Though a lot of it is on film - you can see people's faces who are shooting guns and throwing Molotov's cocktails. And so, hopefully, there will be [an investigation]. People of Odessa really want to have an investigation that's clear."

On May 2, 2014, pro-Kiev nationalists locked protesters in Odessa's House of Trade Unions before setting the building on fire. Almost 50 people died and around 250 others were injured in the clashes and the fire.

Lombardo visited Odessa in May and participated with other American activists in commemorative events as international observers.

While in Ukraine, Lombardo noted, the activists saw swastikas written on the walls both in Kiev and in Odessa.

"In Odessa, they mobilized a fascist march through the town. And although the police would not allow the mothers of the people who were killed at the House of Trade Unions - they wouldn't allow them to have sound system, they allowed fascists to have a sound system," he said. "They carried torches. It was very reminiscent of early Germany. Very scary. But it's clear that they've lost a lot of strength. They mobilized from throughout the whole country to come to Odessa, and they only had about a thousand people."

Lombardo continued to say that people who came to memorialize the dead were far bigger, although some anti-Maidan people have to organize underground, because the fascists have guns and they have a website where they put Names of people, and these people become targets.

"I think it's pretty clear from both the elections that the people don't want fascism, they don't want to go back in that direction and they want to have peace," he added. "I believe the fascists will be defeated in the Ukraine, and I think it's already started to move in that direction. But you can't just let things ride. I believe there really needs to be - people need to organize seriously."

Lombardo also pointed out that the United States is well aware about the fascists in Ukraine.

"The United States is less afraid of fascism than they are afraid of people taking their own country and their destination in their own hands. Because when they will do that, they will use the resources of their country for their own good, not for what Wall Street and Washington want," he said. "That's why the United States is fighting in Venezuela, and all the wars that it does around the world - all of it is to make sure that the US can profit from the resources and the labor of the people in those countries. I think that the United States is very clear that there is a fascist movement there. But I think they wanted Poroshenko to win, and he didn't, and I think they're reevaluating their strategy a little bit right now."

The clashes in Odessa became one of the deadliest events during the Maidan and anti-Maidan demonstrations in Ukraine that started in late 2013. Moscow has repeatedly criticized Kiev's steps in the investigation of the deadly tragedy and urged the international community and human rights groups to probe the causes of the massacre.

In May, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said that Kiev's investigation into the Odessa tragedy did not meet the criteria of independence and impartiality. Ukraine failed to ensure proper investigations and prosecution regarding the May 2 events, the mission said.

The investigation launched into the crimes committed in Odessa has resulted in only one conviction so far.

The HRMMU's assessment echoed the statement released by the Human Rights Watch in January that also slammed Kiev for failing to ensure justice for the victims of the Odessa massacre.