Ivan Katchanovski Profile picture
Political scientist, University of Ottawa. Research politics, conflicts, policy & political communication in Ukraine, US & Canada. Ex-Harvard, SUNY, UofT & LoC.

Nov 21, 2022, 33 tweets

Judges & jury at Maidan massacre trial in Ukraine start deliberating verdict which is expected in 1 year. Overwhelming evidence revealed by trial shows beyond any reasonable doubt that Maidan protesters were massacred not by police but by Maidan snipers 1/ researchgate.net/publication/35…

51 out of 72 wounded #Maidan protesters, with whose shooting Berkut is charged & whose testimonies were revealed at trial, testified at #trial & investigation that they were shot by snipers from Maidan-controlled buildings or witnessed snipers there. 2/

Several dozen prosecution & Maidan witnesses along with dozens of defense witnesses testified at Maidan massacre trial & investigation in #Ukraine about snipers in Maidan-controlled buildings shooting police & Maidan protesters during Maidan massacre. 3/

7 self-admitted Maidan snipers testified for Maidan massacre trial & investigation & in TV documentaries that groups of Maidan snipers received orders from specific Maidan leaders to massacre both Maidan protesters & police & saw Maidan snipers fulfilling these orders. 4/

Videos shown at Maidan massacre trial in #Ukraine showed far-right linked & other groups of Maidan snipers moving into, looking for, changing & leaving shooting positions & shooting at #Maidan protesters & police from Maidan-controlled buildings. 5/

Videos show shooting by Maidan snipers at protesters from room of far-right Svoboda deputy in Hotel Ukraina. Protester testified that this was "our sniper." BBC correspondent said that this sniper was wearing Maidan-style helmet. 6/ academia.edu/video/El228l

Videos show far-right-linked group of Maidan snipers entering Hotel Ukraina & shooting in direction of protesters from German ZDF & ARD TV room. Deputy head of parliament from far-right Svoboda accompanied them. ARD hides its long video filmed there. 7/

Videos show Maidan protesters pointing to shooting by snipers at them from Hotel Ukraina. Protester testified that he was wounded there & then by sniper from the hotel. Government ballistic expert also found this. Berkut was filmed not shooting then. 8/

In videos of killing of Maidan protester, protesters said that he was shot from Maidan-controlled Hotel Ukraina.
German reporter & wife of killed protester also said this.
Government ballistic expert determined that bullet trajectory was from hotel. 9/

Spilne & CNN videos recorded Maidan snipers group looking for shooting position in Hotel Ukraina & then shooting. Spilne reporter identified them as Maidan protesters & testified that he met them there after massacre start. CNN didn't report these snipers.

Belgian TV video shows bullet hitting tree right behind Maidan protesters, who turn towards Hotel Ukraina & ask snipers not to shoot them. It shows they were lured to massacre site by 2 Maidan protesters. One was filmed in hotel with far-right snipers. 11/ academia.edu/video/El228l

Ukraine government investigation denied that there were snipers in Maidan-controlled buildings & didn't investigate them despite overwhelming evidence. Nobody is arrested or convicted for Maidan massacre of protesters & police almost 9 years afterwards 12/ jordanrussiacenter.org/news/the-maida…

Synchronized videos show that specific times & directions of shooting by Berkut police didn't coincide with killings of specific Maidan protesters. Videos & bullet holes show that Berkut shot at walls, trees, poles, ground & Maidan snipers in buildings 13/

Maidan massacre trial in #Ukraine revealed no evidence of order to massacre Maidan protesters by then President Yanukovych & his Internal Affairs, police & SBU chiefs, commanders & members. There are no admissions of massacre by them. 14/ papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

Computer-based ballistic examination by government forensic experts found that bullets extracted from killed protesters, trees & Hotel Ukraina didn't match police database of bullet samples from Kalashnikov assault rifles of Berkut, incl. those charged with Maidan massacre. 15/

Forensic medical examinations by #Ukrainian government experts determined that almost all Maidan protesters facing Berkut on ground were shot not from straight & front directions but from steep & back or sideways directions. 16/ academia.edu/62728119/The_M…

But self-proclaimed experts continue to propagate fake news concerning Maidan massacre in Ukraine 17/

Even Prosecutor General Office of #Ukraine investigation determined that almost half of wounded Maidan protesters were not shot from government-controlled sectors, i.e. they were shot from Maidan-controlled areas. No one is charged with their wounding. 18/
canadiandimension.com/articles/view/…

Maidan massacre trial in #Ukraine revealed that prosecution stopped trial-ordered investigative experiment after government forensic experts determined that first few Maidan protesters were shot from Maidan-controlled Hotel Ukraina & Music Conservatory 19/

But @nytimes & other media continue to propagate fake news concerning Maidan massacre in Ukraine: "protests in central Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, went on until police cracked down violently in February 2014, killing scores." 21/ nytimes.com/live/2022/11/2…

My academic studies video appendix with numerous witness testimonies concerning Maidan snipers was admitted as evidence and shown at Maidan massacre trial in #Ukraine. I was not involved in this or in this trial. My studies are publicly available. 22/

My study, "The "Snipers' Massacre" on the Maidan in Ukraine," that I presented at Annual Meeting of American Political Science Association in San Francisco 23/
researchgate.net/publication/26…

My peer-reviewed article. entitled "The far right, the Euromaidan, and the Maidan massacre in Ukraine" 24/ researchgate.net/publication/33…

My chapter, entitled "The Maidan Massacre in Ukraine: A Summary of Analysis, Evidence and Findings," in "The Return of the Cold War: Ukraine, the West and Russia" book published by @routledgebooks 25/ researchgate.net/publication/28…

All but few shields & helmets of killed & wounded Maidan protesters, many bullets extracted from their bodies, several trees with bullets or bullet holes, recordings of online streams & security cameras in Maidan-controlled buildings & areas "disappeared" during investigation 29/

Maidan massacre trial in Ukraine revealed tampering with key evidence during government investigation. Bullets of many killed & wounded Maidan protesters miraculously appeared, disappeared, changed size, shape & packages or were not sealed. 30/

Somebody tried to censor my tweets concerning revelations from Maidan massacre trial. It's revealing that some have problem not with mass murder & its misrepresentation & dire consequences for #Ukraine & world but with scholarly research of the massacre by Ukrainian academic. 32/

In spite of evidence, which was revealed by Ukraine trial & investigation and showed beyond reasonable doubt that Berkut police did not massacre Maidan protesters, trial verdict that is expected in Fall might not be based on such evidence but on Zelensky administration order. 33/

Ukrainian courts lack independence from executive branch & often base their decisions in such high-profile and highly politicized cases, like Maidan massacre trial, on directives from presidential administration. 34/

All five Berkut policemen, who are on trial for Maidan massacre in Ukraine, were released by Kyiv court on order of Zelensky and exchanged to Donbas separatists within several months of expected verdict in 2019. 35/

Neo-Nazis attacked, disrupted & threatened Maidan massacre trial. Because of directives from Zelensky & far right attacks, it would be difficult for judges & jury during #UkraineRussiaWar to acquit in absentia 3 Berkut policemen exchanged by #Zelensky to Donbas separatists. 36/

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