Ukrainian Officials: Protesters Shot Under Yanukovych's Orders
by VOA News April 03, 2014
Ukraine's new government has alleged that the February killing of protesters in Kyiv took place under the orders of ousted president Viktor Yanukovych. It has also pointed to Russian involvement in the bloodshed.
A preliminary report presented Thursday by Ukraine's top security and justice officials also accuses the Yanukovych regime, which enjoyed backing from Moscow, of having used a network of hired killers, kidnappers and gangs of thugs to terrorize and undermine the opposition during anti-government protests in Ukraine that began in November of last year.
More than 100 protesters died as a result of what authorities at the time called an 'anti-terrorist operation,' many at the hands of government snipers, the report alleges.
During the height of the unrest members of Russia's FSB security force had been seen at Ukraine's security service's headquarters, and a Russian plane had flown large amounts of explosives and weapons into Ukraine, one of the officials, Ukraine's new security chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, said.
The FSB has reportedly denied involvement, but hints of Moscow's hand in the bloodshed could further strain ties with Russia, Ukraine's former Soviet overlord, which annexed Ukraine's Crimea region after Yanukovych's removal from power in what has escalated into the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War.
Yanukovych, who fled Ukraine for Russia in late February, has denied personal responsibility for the bloodshed.
Russian troops
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says troops near the Ukrainian border will return to their permanent bases as soon as they finish military exercises.
Russia has massed troops on its border with Ukraine following Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, triggering fears of an incursion.
Ukrainian officials have said that Moscow has moved as many as 100,000 Russian soldiers to Ukraine's eastern and southern borders. Western officials have put the number at around 40,000.
NATO's top commander, General Philip Breedlove, said Wednesday the Russian force is 'ready to go' and could take over large parts of Ukraine in a little as three days, if such an order were given.
Foreign Minister Lavrov Thursday called on the West to de-escalate the rhetoric, which he said was crossing 'into the unreasonable.'
Russia-NATO tensions
Lavrov has also asked NATO for answers on its plans to beef up defenses in Eastern Europe -- a move seen as a direct response to the Russian takeover of Crimea.
Lavrov said any increase in NATO's permanent presence in eastern Europe would violate a 1997 treaty on NATO-Russian cooperation.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Vogh Rasmussen expressed surprise Thursday at Russia's claims, instead accusing Moscow of 'violating every principle and international commitment it has made.' He called Russian claims about NATO's actions 'propaganda and disinformation.'
At a meeting in Brussels earlier this week, NATO foreign ministers announced they will officially end all civilian and military cooperation with Russia. The ministers said they do not recognize the annexation of Crimea and urged Moscow to immediately comply with international law.
Responding to the move, Russia has recalled its top military representative to NATO "for consultations" to Moscow, a senior defense official was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Thursday.
"We don't see an opportunity to continue military cooperation as usual with NATO," said Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, according to RIA Novosti.
Russia-Germany spat
Russia protested to Germany on Thursday over remarks by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble which likened Russia's annexation of Crimea to Nazi Germany's expansion under Adolf Hitler.
"We consider such pseudo-historical references by the German minister provocative," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "The comparisons by [Schaeuble] are a gross manipulation of historic facts."
While Chancellor Angela Merkel has distanced herself from Schaeuble's comments, Russia conveyed its unhappiness to Germany's ambassador in Moscow, Ruediger von Fritsch.
Speaking on Monday to a group of students, Schaeuble referred to the arguments used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to justify the annexation of Crimea. Putin cited the need to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine, something Schaeuble said reminded him of Hitler's vows to protect ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in 1938.
Hitler first annexed parts of Czechoslovakia, and a year later invaded the rest of the country.
Schaeuble's spokesman later denied that the minister had equated Russia with Hitler's Third Reich.
Some reporting by Reuters
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