By Vestnik Kavkaza
May 2nd became a black day in the history of Ukraine. Mass clashes in Odessa, which became an episode of the political crisis in the country, led to more than 40 deaths. The majority of them were killed during a fire at the Trades Union Building, where pro-Russian activists tried to hide after a fight on one of the biggest historic squares of Odessa – Kulikovo Field. The square with anti-Maidan tents became a symbol of resistance against Nazism and fighting for the unity of the Ukrainian, Belorusan, and Russian nations. Their movement is called the Kulikovo Field.
Vestnik Kavkaza talked to Yegor Kvasnyuk leader of the movement "Kulikovo Field" about the events in Odessa on May 2nd.
“On April 30 it became known that merry hell would be awaiting for us on May 2. We received warnings through the mass media, on the Internet, official announcements that radical groups will come to destroy Kulikovo Field. Then the decision on moving the inhabited part of Kulikovo Field was made.
On May 2 one part had to protect Kulikovo Field, and the second part had more fighting and gathered on the territory of Aleksandrovsky Park, and the task of this part was not to attack Right Sector or the fans, of whom there were several thousands, but to walk down Troitsk Street three-quarters of a kilometre from the route of the column, it was agreed with police, with Fuchedzhi, with other management of police. With the government of the city it was agreed that our group will go to Troitsk Street, but, unfortunately, at the head of our column there was a provocateur, whom we already saw prior to the clashes, and he tried to stop the situation completely. But, having seen that we had seen him, he had already run, and the crowd went,” Kvasnyuk says.
According to him, “after that, the first instruction was to call people so that the police could sort out all the people attacking us. The instruction didn't turn out. The police were brought, generally from the city of Rovno, from the Rovnenskaya district. Our local police tried to protect people. I watched as several policemen were wounded in their chests, bodies, in their stomachs by firearms, and 4 persons were taken out, all these things happened in front of me; a person fell with a gunshot wound to the stomach, literally a meter from me. That's what happened on Grecheskaya Street, near the shopping center "Athena". It became clear that our opponents had a huge number of firearms. The attack was complete madness, which none of the staff of Kulikovo Field approved; it was a decision by one of the field commanders. They said when he was arrested, he had a million hryvnias. We believed the person took money from the mayoral candidate Gurvitsa to organize the provocation.”
Nobody expected that there would be another provocation – the burning of the Trade Union Building. “I ordered a retreat. Those who could, retreated; those who could not hid in "Athena". Some of our guys were arrested and are still kept in Vinnitsa, Kvasnyuk says. “I gave a command to leave Kulikovo Field. I went to agree that people on Kulikovo Field would be protected by the police. Kiev sent absolutely different orders; therefore there were few policemen near the Trade Union Building. However, most of the policemen were not from Odessa. Four vehicles of the National Guard came there; they just stood and smiled when they saw how people were thrown out of windows and killed with sticks, like my late friend, Vyacheslav Markin… And then, you know, people were just stabbed, burned alive. Not everybody was killed by fire, most of them were killed right in the Trade Union Building…”
