Altogether, 108 civilian protesters and 13 police officers were killed [1] in Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity (or the 'Maidan Revolution'), which was the culmination of the Euromaidan protest movement. The deaths occurred in January and February 2014; most of them on 20 February, when police snipers fired on anti-government activists in Kyiv. The slain activists are known in Ukraine as the Heavenly Hundred or Heavenly Company (Ukrainian : Небесна сотня, Nebesna sotnia ). By June 2016, 55 people had been charged in relation to the deaths of protesters, including 29 former members of the Berkut special police force, ten titushky or loyalists of the former government, and ten former government officials. [1]
On 21 February, the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) passed a law to provide assistance to the families of the protesters who were killed. [2] On 21 November 2014 a decree by the new Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko posthumously awarded the title "Hero of Ukraine" to the slain protesters. [3] Three non-Ukrainian citizens killed in the revolution were each posthumously awarded the title "Knight of the Order of the Heaven's Hundred Heroes". [4] Since 2015, the deaths have been commemorated each year in Ukraine on 20 February, which is "the Day of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes". [5] [6]
The first deaths occurred on Unity Day, 22 January, during riots on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv, where three activists: Serhiy Nigoyan, Mykhailo Zhyznevskyi and Roman Senyk were shot dead by security forces. On the same day, the dead body of activist Yuriy Verbytsky was found on the city outskirts; he had been kidnapped a day before with Ihor Lutsenko, who was released. These were the first victims to die in demonstrations in Ukraine since it gained national independence in 1991. The deaths caused widespread protests. On 23 January, then Prime Minister Mykola Azarov in a BBC interview said that police had not been issued firearms, and said no police officers were located on the rooftops around the protest area. He stated that the shooting of protesters was a provocation by extremist forces aimed at escalating violence. [7] Party of Regions MP Arsen Klinchayev stated during a memorial service in Luhansk for those killed on 22 January by police, "These people were against the government. Nobody has the right to use physical force against police officers. And then they have their sticks, then stones, then something else. The police have the right to defend their lives. So I think it's right that these four people were killed. Moreover, I believe that you need to be stricter." [8]
On 18 February, protesters attempted to march from Independence Square to the parliament building, to urge politicians to vote for constitutional amendments. Clashes broke out as their path was blocked by riot police, who tried to push them back to Maidan. Eleven protesters were killed or fatally wounded. Three of them were shot dead by police; the rest died of other injuries. Four police officers were also shot and killed. [1] [9]
Later that evening and into the early hours of 19 February, the security forces launched an operation to clear Independence Square. Small groups of titushky (government loyalists) also gathered nearby. Clashes broke out between the security forces and protesters, resulting in the deaths of seventeen protesters and five police officers. Most of the protesters were shot by police. Two others died when police set the Trade Union building on fire, and another was found dead with his throat slit. A journalist, Viacheslav Veremii, was beaten and shot dead by titushky for filming them. The five police officers died from gunshot wounds. [1] [9]
On the morning of 20 February, riot police massed at the edge of the Maidan camp on Independence Square. At around 9am, two Berkut officers were shot dead. Around the same time, protesters tried to push the security forces away from the Maidan and back up Instytutska Street. The security forces fired indiscriminately on the protesters from ground level, while snipers fired on protesters from above. By midday, 48 protesters had been shot dead on Instytutska Street, as had two other police officers. [1] [9] According to the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, special forces (Berkut) and Interior Troops snipers [10] shot at people on Maidan and/or snipers located in nearby buildings, with the special forces firing AK-47 assault rifles. [11] 20 February was the bloodiest day of the clashes, with at least 21 protesters killed. [12] [13]
The final death toll from these clashes in late February was 103 protesters and 13 police. [14] [15] [16] According to Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Oleh Zalisko in February, 184 people sustained gunshot wounds in Kyiv and over 750 suffered bodily injury. [17] On 20 February, the (then) opposition parties (Batkivshchyna, UDAR and Svoboda) stated "To hold talks with the regime, the policies of which led to the deaths of many people, is an extremely unpleasant thing but we must do everything possible and even the impossible to prevent further bloodshed". [18]
On 21 February, the Maidan held a memorial for the slain protesters who they named the Heavenly Hundred. [19] During the event, a mourning Lemko song "A Duckling Swims in the Tysa" was heard (Ukrainian : « Пливе́ ка́ча по Тиси́ні…»).
On 24 February, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) decided to propose that the next Ukrainian president award the title Hero of Ukraine to protesters killed in the clashes. [20]
In June 2016, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine announced that forensic examinations had matched bullets removed from the victims' bodies with the assault rifles of the Berkut. [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] In the years since the revolution, the Office of the Prosecutor General has identified 27 Berkut officers involved in the 20 February shootings of protesters. However, in most cases, investigators have been unable to identify which Berkut officer shot specific protesters. [9]
In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, the new government's health minister, Oleh Musiy—a doctor who helped oversee medical treatment for casualties during the protests—told the Associated Press that the similarity of the bullet wounds suffered by both protesters and police suggested the shooters were trying to stoke tensions on both sides and spark greater violence, with the goal of justifying a Russian invasion. "I think it wasn't just a part of the old regime that (plotted the provocation), but it was also the work of Russian special forces who served and maintained the ideology of the (old) regime," he said, citing forensic evidence. [28] Hennadiy Moskal, former deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine and Ministry of Internal Affairs, suggested that snipers from the Security Service and Militsiya were responsible, who acted on contingency plans dating back to Soviet times: "Snipers received orders to shoot not only protesters, but also police forces. This was all done to escalate the conflict, to justify the police operation to clear Maidan". [29] [30] The new Interior Minister, Arsen Avakov, said in March 2014 that the shootings were provoked by a 'non-Ukrainian' third party, and that an investigation was ongoing. [31]
Russian state media reported in March 2014 a leaked telephone call in which Estonia's foreign minister, Urmas Paet, allegedly accused the opposition of shooting both police and protesters. [32] Paet acknowledged the phone call was authentic, but denied blaming the opposition and said he was merely relaying rumors he had heard from a doctor. [33] A spokesperson for the US state department said the leak was "Russian tradecraft". [34] The doctor, Olga Bogomolets, said she had not told Paet that policemen and protesters had been killed in the same way, that she did not blame the opposition for the killings, and said the government told her an investigation had begun. [35]
In April 2014, Ukraine's new interior minister, Avakov, presented the findings of the initial investigation into the shootings. It found the Berkut responsible for shooting the protesters, and identified twelve of the officers involved. It also identified some of the firing positions. Avakov said the previous regime had tried to hinder any inquiry by destroying weapons, uniforms and documents. [36] The investigation also found that more than 30 Russian Federal Security Bureau (FSB) agents were involved in the crackdown on protesters. Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, the interim head of Ukraine's Security Service, said the FSB agents had flown large quantities of explosives into an airport near Kyiv, that they were based at a compound in Kyiv throughout the Maidan protests, were provided with "state telecommunications", and were in regular contact with Yanukovych's security officials. He said that Yanukovych's SBU chief Oleksandr Yakymenko, who had fled the country, held several briefings with the agents. Russia's FSB rejected this as "groundless accusations". [37]
On 31 March 2014, The Daily Beast published photos and videos which appear to show that some of the snipers were members of the Ukrainian Security Service's "Alfa" group, who had been trained in Russia. [38]
In 2015, BBC published a story based on an interview with an unnamed man, who said he fired at riot police from the Kyiv Conservatory (music academy) on the morning of 20 February. The sniper said he was recruited by "a retired military officer". These morning shots are said to have provoked return fire from police snipers that resulted in many deaths. One Maidan leader, Andriy Shevchenko, said police commanders called him to say they were being shot from areas controlled by protesters. Another Maidan leader, Andriy Parubiy, said his team searched the Conservatory but found no snipers. He confirmed that many victims on both sides were shot by snipers, but they were shooting from other, taller buildings surrounding the Conservatory and was convinced they were snipers controlled by Russia. [39] In 2016, Maidan protester Ivan Bubenchik admitted having fired on the security forces from the Conservatory on 20 February, killing two Berkut commanders. He said he acted in response to the Berkut shooting at protesters. [40] [41]
On 2 April 2014, law enforcement authorities announced they had detained nine officers of the Kyiv City Berkut unit as suspects in the shootings, and verified the Alfa Group's involvement[ further explanation needed ]. Officials also said they planned further arrests, but had been hindered because the Yanukovych regime destroyed documents and evidence. The Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed that Yanukovych gave the order to fire on protesters on 20 February. [42] [43]
Many of the identified alleged perpetrators fled to Russia after the revolution. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the Russian Federation granted citizenship to 18 police officers suspected of killing protesters, and has refused to extradite them to Ukraine. [9] President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in 2020 that prosecutions were difficult because "evidence and documents have been lost, while the scene of the crime has been tampered with and 'cleaned up'". He could not say when those who gave the orders would be found, but gave assurances that the matter is being "dealt with faster than several years ago". [44] Later in 2020, an investigation by the Ukrainian Bureau of Investigations concluded that the assault on the Maidan protesters was ordered by Yanukovych and his subordinates. [45]
In 2023, a Ukrainian court convicted three former Berkut police officers in absentia for their part in the killings. The three were in hiding in Russia. Oleh Yanishevsky, a deputy commander of a Berkut regiment, received life imprisonment for murder, while the two others were sentenced to 15 years each for murder. [46] [47] [48] The court ruled that at least 40 of the 48 protesters were killed by the Berkut. In the remaining eight cases, the perpetrators could not be determined due to lack of evidence. [49] According to the Kyiv Independent:
"In many cases, it was impossible to identify which Berkut officer shot specific protesters because they wore face masks or their images in photographs and video footage were of poor quality. ... the court effectively considered the officers' actions individually rather than collectively, thus dropping murder charges where it was impossible to prove which officer killed which protester". [50]
Nationality | Name | Details | Date of death | Cause of death/Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
Yuriy Verbytskyi | Seismologist from the Geophysical Institute in Lviv. [51] Member of Lviv's climber society. After his death, the society proposed to name one of the Caucasian mountains after Verbytskyi—the idea was supported by the Georgian climber society, which is currently looking for an unnamed peak. [52] | 21 or 22 January | Verbytskyi was kidnapped from the Oleksandivsky Hospital together with Ihor Lutsenko on 21 January. [53] His body was found on 22 January close to the village of Hnidyn in Boryspil Raion, with signs of torture. [54] However, the official cause of death was hypothermia. [55] | |
Pavlo Mazurenko | Participated in Euromaidan [56] | 21 December 2013 | According to his wife, as reported by Ukrayinska Pravda , Pavlo Mazurenko (41 years old) was beaten up on 18 December 2013 by three law enforcement agents in Borshchahivka (Mykilska). [57] According to police, he died as a result of a fight with employees of a private security company who were guarding the Colibris store in Kyiv. Police claimed that Maruenko's wife stated he was not involved in protests. [58] Ukrainian UNIAN News Agency interviewed his wife days after, and she commented her husband was beaten by "three men in black uniform and batons [...] more resembling interior ministry servicemen, or a private security company staff". She claimed that the three ran away after beating him. [59] On 21 December, he visited a doctor who sent him to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion. [57] The day he was hospitalized doctors found fractures to his skull. [57] On 22 December, Mazurenko died and his body was sent for forensic examination, after which he was diagnosed with two-way contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (lung plaque seen in bovine animals). [57] | |
Serhiy Nigoyan | Born in the village of Bereznuvativka in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. [60] The Nigoyan family moved from Armenia to Ukraine as refugees of the first Nagorno-Karabakh War. [61] Nigoyan came to Euromaidan on 8 December and was mostly involved in security. [60] | 22 January | He died on 22 January during clashes on Hrushevskoho Street. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds during a Berkut attack on the barricades. [60] [62] [63] On 18 November 2015, according to the head of the Special Investigations Unit, Nigoyan was killed at a distance of not less than three meters, while the security team of the protesters was at a distance of about 30 meters. | |
Mykhailo Zhyznevskyi | Zhyznevskyi left Belarus for political reasons. In Ukraine, he lived in Kyiv and later Bila Tserkva. [64] Was a member of the Ukrainian nationalist group, the UNSO. At Euromaidan, Zhyznevskyi was involved in security. [64] | 22 January | He died on 22 January during Berkut's action on barricades on Hrushevskoho Street. He was shot in the chest by a sniper. [62] [63] His funeral was attended by Euromaidan and opposition leaders; he was buried with the Ukrainian UNA-UNSO and Belarusian flags. [65] | |
Roman Senyk | Senyk was born in Lviv Oblast and lived in Turka. | 25 January | During a Berkut action on barricades on Hrushevskoho Street, a grenade tore his hand and left multiple wounds in his lower chest and lungs. [66] Hit with a metal bullet in the lung, he underwent several operations and had to have his arm amputated. [67] After losing more than 3.5 litres of blood, he died in hospital after multiple surgeries. [68] | |
Bohdan Kalyniak | 52 years old from Kolomyia, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast | 28 January | He died at a hospital in Ivano-Frankivsk on 28 January. Kolomyia Mayor Igor Sluzar said the man had come down with pneumonia during the clashes on Hrushevskoho Street where police used water cannons on protesters despite sub-zero temperatures. [67] | |
Serhiy Synenko | AutoMaidan activist. Zaporizhzhia. | 13 February | In Zaporizhzhia, the gas tank of his car was shot at, causing it to explode and the car to engulf him in flames. Police stated the murder may have been motivated by his participation in Automaidan. [69] | |
Serhiy Bondarev | Software engineer from GlobalLogic, Kyiv. Originally from Kramatorsk, Donetsk region | 18 February | 4 Gunshot wounds [70] | |
Valeriy Brezdenyuk | Painter, known for "paintings on the water". From Zhmerynka, Vinnytsia Oblast., [71] [72] 50 year old. | 18 February | Killed during clashes by a gunshot wound to the back. [73] | |
Serhiy Didych | Svoboda member. 44 years old. | 18 February | He died during a traffic incident while another protester was trying to break the police line. [74] | |
Antonina Dvoryanets | From Brovary. Kyiv Oblast. 61 years old. [75] | 18 February | She was picketing on Instytutska Street. Beaten to death with clubs during clashes. [76] [77] | |
Oleksandr Kapinos | From Ternopil Oblast, Svoboda member, 29 years old. | 18 February | He was killed during clashes. [73] According to his friend, Oleksandr was hit by a grenade, then shot in the head with a rubber bullet at close range. Died in hospital. | |
Zurab Khurtsia | Georgian, 53 years old. | 18 February | Died from a heart attack on Maidan. [76] [78] | |
Volodymyr Kishchuk | From Zaporizhzhia Oblast. 58 years old. | 18 February | Shot during clashes with riot police and Berkut on Hrushevskoho street. [79] [80] | |
Andriy Korchak | Boryslav. Lviv Oblast 50 years old. | 18 February | Beaten by "Berkut" and died from a head injury in the hospital. [73] [81] | |
Volodymyr Kulchytskyi | From Kyiv. 65 years old. | 18 February | Killed by two bullets during clashes. [73] | |
Volodymyr Naumov | Member of Euromaidan self-defense units, from Donetsk Oblast. | 18 February | Body found on Trukhaniv Island near the Dnieper River. Police accused Naumov of suicide. [76] [82] | |
Oleksandr Plekhanov | 22 year-old college student from Kyiv. | 18 February | Killed during clashes. [83] | |
Ihor Serdyuk | From Kremenchuk. 40 years old. | 18 February | Executed by "titushkas" thugs and "Berkut" next to Mariinskyi Park, while building a barricade. [70] | |
Serhiy Shapoval | From Kyiv. 45 years old. | 18 February | Shot during clashes with the riot police and Berkut on Hrushevskoho street. [79] [80] | |
Vyacheslav Veremiy | Journalist for Vesti newspaper; lost 1 eye during the Hrushevskoho Street riots weeks prior; survived by a 4-year-old son. [84] | 18 February | Pulled out of a taxi on his way home from work and then shot in the chest by government-paid thugs [85] [86] in a targeted killing. Driver was severely beaten with lacerations to his legs. [87] | |
Yakiv Zaiko | Former People's Deputy of Ukraine, Zhytomyr. 73 years old. | 18 February | Died from heart attack while fleeing "Berkut" special unit. [88] | |
Andriy Chernenko | Slobodo-Petrivka, Poltava Oblast, 35 years old. Survived by 7-month-old daughter. | 19 February | [70] | |
Yuriy Paskhalin | From Cherkasy Oblast. 30 years old. | 19 February | 3 Gunshot wounds in the back and 1 pneumatic injury [70] | |
Dmytro Maksymov | From Kyiv, 19 years old. | 18 February | Injured by a grenade explosion, lost an arm, died of blood loss. [70] | |
Vitaliy Vasyltsov | from Bila Tserkva. 1977 (age 46–47) | 19 February | Shot on Velyka Zhytomyrska Street. [89] | |
Serhiy Baidovsky | from Lutsk, originally from Novovolynsk. 22 years old. | 20 February | Killed on Independence Square [89] | |
Serhiy Bondarchuk | from Starokostiantyniv. 1961 (age 62–63) Teacher of Physics. [90] | 20 February | Killed by sniper [89] [90] | |
Mykola Dziavulsky | Born in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. Lived in Shepetivka, Khmelnytskyi Oblast. 1958 (age 65–66) Teacher of geography and biology | 20 February | Killed by sniper on Instytutska Street. [90] | |
Ustym Holodnyuk | from Zbarazh, Ternopil Oblast, born in 1994 (19 years old) | 20 February | Shot in the head by sniper [90] | |
Eduard Hrynevych | Volyn Oblast, born in 1985 (28 years old) | 20 February | Shot in the head by a sniper. Brought to St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery [70] | |
Serhiy Kemsky | From Kerch, Crimea. 34 years old. | 20 February | Brought to St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery [70] | |
Ihor Kostenko | Journalist from the newspaper Sportanalytic, geography student and contributor to Ukrainian Wikipedia [91] from Buchach, Ternopil Oblast. 22 years old | 20 February | Brought to St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery [92] | |
Ivan Kreman (Panteleyev) | From Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast | 20 February | Killed by sniper [90] [93] | |
Andrii Movchan | from Kyiv. 34 years old. Democratic Alliance activist | 20 February | Killed by sniper. According to a friend, Andrii was bringing food to Maidan when he was killed. [94] | |
Roman Nikulichev | Kyiv, 21 years old | 20 February | [70] | |
Dmytro Pahor | Khmelnytskyi, 21 y/o | 20 February | Shot in the head next to the SBU office in Khmelnytskyi [95] | |
Yuriy Parashchuk | Lived in Kharkiv, born in Talne, Cherkasy Oblast. Born in 1966 (47 y/o) | 20 February | Shot in the head and killed by sniper on Instytutska Street. [70] | |
Anatoliy Korneyev | From Havrylivtsi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast | 20 February | Killed by sniper. [70] | |
Andriy Sayenko | From Fastiv. 42 years old | 20 February | 7th Sotnia of Maidan Self-Defense. Killed by a sniper [96] | |
Yosyp Shylinh | 14 February 1953 From Drohobych, Lviv Oblast | 20 February | Shot in the head by a sniper next to October Palace [70] | |
Viktor Chmilenko | Borysivka , Bobrynets Raion, Kirovohrad Oblast 1961 (age 62–63) | 20 February | Killed by sniper [90] | |
Vitaliy Smolinsky | Furmanivka village. From Cherkasy Oblast. | 20 February | Brought to St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery [70] | |
Bohdan Solchanyk | From Staryi Sambir, Lviv Oblast, Professor of Ukrainian Catholic University | 20 February | Brought to St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery [70] | |
Igor Tkachuk | Znamensk, Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia) 1975 (age 48–49). Father of three children with the youngest only a year old. | 20 February | Killed by sniper. [90] | |
Bohdan Ilkiv | Shchyrets, Lviv Oblast, 51 years old | 22 February | Shot twice in the stomach on Maidan. Died in the hospital. [97] | |
Roman Tochyn | Khodoriv, Lviv Oblast 1970 (age 53–54), Svoboda party member | 20 February | Shot in the head by a sniper. [90] | |
Oleksandr Tsariok | Kalinin, Vasylkiv Raion, Kyiv Oblast | 20 February | Killed by sniper [90] | |
Oleh Ushnevych | Drohobych 1982 (age 41–42) | 20 February | Killed by sniper [90] | |
Roman Varenytsia | from Yavoriv Raion, Lviv Oblast. 14 December 1978 | 20 February | Killed by sniper [89] [90] | |
Nazar Voytovych | 17-year-old from Travneve village, Ternopil Oblast | 20 February | Brought to St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery [70] | |
Anatoliy Zhalovaha | Lviv, born in 1980 | 20 February | Brought to St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery [70] | |
Anatoliy Zherebnyh | Rudky, Lviv Oblast | 20 February | Brought to St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery [70] | |
Bohdan Vaida | Letnya village, Lviv Oblast, 48 years old | 20 February | Shot in the chest by a sniper [70] | |
Volodymyr Chaplinsky | Obukhiv, born in 1979 (34 y/o) | 20 February | Shot in the neck by a sniper [70] | |
Ihor Dmytriv | Kopanky village, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, 30 years old | 20 February | Shot in the chest by a sniper [70] | |
Andriy Dyhdalovych | Sokilnyky, Pustomyty Raion, Lviv Oblast, born in 1973 | 20 February | Shot by a sniper while covering a friend. [70] | |
Roman Hurik | Ivano-Frankivsk, born in 1994 | 19 February | Shot in the head by a sniper [70] | |
Vitaliy Kotsyuba | Lviv, 32 years old | 20 February | [70] | |
Oleksandr Khrapachenko | Theatre director from Rivne, originally from Zdolbuniv, born in 1987 (26 years old) | 20 February | Shot in the head and killed by sniper. [70] | |
Vasyl Moysey | Born 23 March 1992 (21 years old) in Zubrets, Buchach Raion, Ternopil Oblast. He was living in Kivertsi, Volyn Oblast while a 4th year student at Lutsk University Institute of Human Development. | 20 February | Shot in the chest by a sniper on the morning of 20 February. He had arrived with the Volyn Self-Defense unit on the Maidan in Kyiv 18 February. He died at the 17th hospital from the gunshot wound, despite having worn a bulletproof vest. [98] [70] [99] | |
Valeriy Opanasyuk | Rivne, born in 1971. Had 4 children. | 20 February | Shot by a sniper [70] | |
Volodymyr Pavliuk | Kolomyia, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, about 40 years old | 20 February | Shot 4 times, once in the head. Died in the hospital [70] | |
Leonid Polyansky | About 35 years old | 20 February | Body found in morgue on Oranzhereina Street [70] | |
Oleksandr Shcherbaniuk | From Chernivtsi, Batkivshchina party member. Afghanistan war veteran. | 20 February | Shot in the heart by a sniper [70] | |
Maksym Shymko | From Vinnytsia, 33 years old | 20 February | Shot by a sniper [70] | |
Ivan Tarasiuk | Olyka village, Volyn Oblast, born in 1993, 21 years old | 20 February | Killed by a sniper. [70] | |
Ivan Bliok | Horodok, Lviv Oblast, born in 1973 (40 y/o) | 20 February | Shot in the heart by a sniper [70] | |
Mykola Pankiv | Lapayivka, Lviv Oblast, 39 years old | 20 February | Shot in the chest [70] | |
Vasyly Prohorskiy | Kyiv, 33 years old | 18 February | Went to Maidan on 18 Feb, was missing, found dead and tortured. [70] | |
Viktor Shvets | Hatne village, Kyiv Oblast, born in 1957 | 19 February | Shot in the stomach 3 times [70] | |
Volodymyr Zherebniy | Born in Vyshnia village (moved to Rudky), Lviv Oblast, born in 1985 (28 years old) | 20 February | Shot in the neck by a sniper [100] | |
Liudmyla Sheremet | Khmelnytskyi, 73 years old | 22 February | Shot in the head by an SBU officer on 19 February during the storming of SBU office in Khmelnytskyi. Died in the hospital three days later. [101] [102] | |
Yevhen Kotliar | Kharkiv, born in 1980 (33 y/o) | 20 February | Shot on Instytutska Street. [103] | |
Ivan Horodniuk | Berezne, Rivne Oblast, 29 years old | 19 February | On 18 February, was beaten by "Berkut" and soaked from a water cannon. Returned home 19 February and died from a heart attack same night. [70] | |
Andriy Tsepun | Kyiv, 35 years old | 21 February | Activist, found beaten to death. [104] | |
Maksym Mashkov | 21 February | Died in the hospital [104] | ||
Maksym Horoshishin | Hrushivka village, Cherkasy Oblast, 25 years old | 18 February | Died from gas grenade poisoning during the clashes on Instytutska Street. [105] | |
Georgiy Arutiunyan | Georgian Citizen of Armenian descent, lived in Rivne, born in 1960. | 20 February | Shot by a sniper. Brought to St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery [70] | |
Volodymyr Melnychuk | Lived in Kyiv, 40 years old | 20 February | Was helping activists. Shot in the neck by a sniper while standing next to his wife. [106] | |
David Kipiani | Georgia | 21 February | Found wounded, likely shot by a sniper, next to the barricades on Khmelnytskoho Street, died in the emergency vehicle. [107] | |
Victor Chernets | Podibna, Cherkasy Oblast, born in 1977 | 19 February | Died from injury caused by the collision with an unidentified SUV while guarding an improvised checkpoint built to block special units and thugs on Kyiv-Odesa highway. The SUV was storming the checkpoint to open the way for the Interior troops. [108] | |
Oleksandr Scherbatyuk | From Chernivtsi; 46 years old; Jewish; Afghan war veteran | 20 February | Killed by snipers. [109] | |
Volodymyr Topiy | Vyshnia village, Lviv Oblast, 57 years old | 18 February | Died during the fire at the Trade Unions Building [110] | |
Volodymyr Zubok | Chernihiv Oblast, born in 1985 | 20 January | [110] | |
Viktor Khomyak | Activist | 27 January | Body found hung on the Christmas Tree on the Maidan. Details are unknown. [110] | |
Viktor Prokhorchuk | born in 1975 (38 years old) | 18 February | Member of the self-defense. Found with his throat slit in the backyard of a Khreshchatyk house a week after disappearance on 18 February. [110] | |
Andriy Zhanovachiy | born in 1964 | 20? February | [110] | |
Volodymyr Boykiv | born in 1955 | 19 February | [110] | |
Oleksiy Bratushko | From Sumy, born in 1971 | 20 February | Shot by a sniper on Instytutska Street. [110] | |
Ihor Batchinsky | 30 years old | 25 February | [110] | |
Mykola Tarshchuk | born in 1975 | 20 February | Shot in the neck by a sniper [110] | |
Mykola Semisiuk | From Khmelnytskyi, born in 1986 | 20 February | Shot in the head by a sniper [110] | |
Ihor Pehenko | Vyshhorod, Kyiv Oblast, born in 1970, 43 years old | 20 February | Shot in the neck by a sniper [111] | |
Vladyslav Zubenko | "Svoboda" Party activist from Kharkiv, born in 1991, 22 years old | 28 February | Shot by a sniper 20 February, died from the wounds in the hospital. [112] | |
Artem Mazur | 26 years old | 3 March | Sustained heavy head trauma, died from the wounds in the hospital. [113] | |
Taras Slobodian | From Ternopil Oblast, 31 years old | 5 March | Body was found in the woods of Sumskyi Forest [114] in October 2013? (query date - precedes date of death) [115] | |
Mykhailo Kostyshyn | Nyzhnii Strutyn, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast | 26 February | Was on Maidan from the first days. Beaten to death in January, lasted in the hospital for almost a month but did not recover. [116] | |
Artur Khuntsaar | From Ivano-Frankivsk, born in 1984 (29 years old) | 18 February | Killed by a sniper. | |
Yuriy Nechiporuk | From Khmilnyk, Vinnytsia Oblast, 30 years old | 18 February | Activist, kidnapped and killed by thugs. Sustained 20 knife wounds. [117] | |
Anatoliy Kurach | From Rivne | 21 February | Died because of a head trauma received on Maidan [118] | |
Oleksandr Badera | From Volodymyr, born in 1948 (66 years old) | 28 January | Died because of trauma received 22 January on Hrushevskoho Street. | |
Oleksandr Baliuk | From Lypovy village, Zhytomyr Oblast, born in 1974 (39 years old) | 20 February | Received a firearm wound to the chest. Was trying to rescue another person. [119] | |
Reshat Ametov | From Crimea, born in 1975. Father of 3 children. | 3 March? | Participated in the protests. Disappeared 3 March, found on 15 March, tortured to death. [120] | |
Vyacheslav Vorona | Born in Prypiat, lived in Kyiv | 9 March | Received a head injury during the clashes, was brought to the intensive care, never recovered from coma. | |
Vasyl Aksenin | From Letyache, Ternopil Oblast, born in 1961. | 12 March | Seriously wounded on 20 February in Kyiv. At the end of February he was sent for treatment to Poland, but did not survive. | |
Olha Bura | From Rypne, Lviv Oblast, born in 1986. | 10 March | Participated in the protests since the end of November. Died at a hospital from injuries received during the clashes. | |
Vasyl Sheremet | From Lanchyn, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, born in 1949 (64 y/o). | 7 March | Died from wounds sustained during the clashes with "Berkut" | |
Ivan Nakonechny | From Kyiv, born in 1931 (82 years old). | 7 March | Navy officer. Was on the Euromaidan since 30 November. Died from wounds sustained during the clashes on Instytutska Street on 19 February. | |
Petro Hadzha | Lived in Kyiv, born in Rakhiv, Zakarpattia Oblast, born in 1966 (47 years old). | 22 March | Was on the Euromaidan since its first days. Member of the 8th Sotnia. Died in the hospital due to gas poisoning which he had sustained during the clashes on Hrushevskoho Street. | |
Dmytro Chernyavskiy | Born in Donetsk Oblast. Studied at Lviv National University, born in 1992 (22 years old). | 13 March | On 13 March, participated in the meeting for the unity of Ukraine in Donetsk. Was stabbed to death in clashes with pro-Russian activists. | |
Roman Olikh | Born in the village of Hybalivka, Vinnytsia Oblast. | 15 February | Came to Maidan in January. On 6 February he was injured and taken to a hospital in Kyiv. Fell into coma and never recovered. |
Unidentified activists were reported killed.
On 18 February militants from the Social-National Assembly and the Patriots of Ukraine seized and burned down the central office of the ruling Party of Regions. [134] A 57-year-old IT engineer Vladimir Konstantinovich Zakharov died in the fire. According to Party of Regions' statement, Zakharov proposed to the attackers to provide an exit route for the women office workers and was mortally struck in the head with a bat. [135] According to the Ukrainian news site Censor.net, Zakharov died of carbon monoxide poisoning while taking money from the office safe. [136] On 10 April 2020 Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigations handed a murder suspicion notice to a former People's Deputy of Ukraine Tetiana Chornovol. Chornovol is accused of "controlling actions of a group of people and directly participating in the arson" of the Party of Regions office building. [137]
As of 2 March, The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported 18 officer fatalities related to the conflict. [138] Two deaths that occurred during the crisis were considered by The Interior Ministry's as having no relation to Euromaidan or civil unrest. [139] In addition, according to the Minister of Internal Affairs, another police officer, 30-year-old captain of the Internal Troops of Ukraine Dmytro Donets, died from a heart attack. [140] On 18 February, six officers were killed in action against protest camps in Kyiv. [141]
Nationality | Rank | Name | Details | Date of death | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant | Dmytro Vlasenko | Born 1982, Internal Troops (Crimea) | 18 February | [142] | |
Lieutenant | Vitaliy Honcharov | Born 1989, Internal Troops (Crimea) | 18 February | [142] | |
Lieutenant | Volodymyr Yevtushok | Born 1971, Patrol Service (Kyiv) | 18 February | [142] [143] | |
Senior Lieutenant | Andriy Fediukin | Born 1972, Berkut (Crimea) | 18 February | [142] | |
Oleksiy Ivanenko | Born 1977, Internal Troops (Kharkiv) | 18 February | [142] | ||
Lieutenant | Petro Savitsky | Born 1972, Patrol Service (Kyiv) | 18 February | [142] | |
Sergeant | Vasil' Bulitko | Born 1986, Berkut (Kyiv) | 18 February | [142] | |
Sergeant | Serhiy Tsvihun | Born 1990, Berkut (Zaporizhia) | 18 February | [142] | |
Ivan Tepliuk | Born 1993, Internal Troops (Kyiv) | 18 February | [142] | ||
Maxim Tretiak | Born 1993, Internal Troops (Kyiv) | 18 February | [142] | ||
Serhiy Spichak | Berdyansk (Zaporizhia region) | 19 February | [144] | ||
Volodymyr Zubok | [144] | ||||
Vitaliy Zakharchenko | [144] | ||||
Roman Kizik | [144] | ||||
Nazariy Myrka | [144] | ||||
Serhiy Mikhaylovych | [144] | ||||
Mykola Simisiuk | [144] |
Ukrainian sources refer to the activists who died during Euromaidan as "The Heavenly Hundred". [145] In April 2014, the Kyiv City State Administration and Culture Ministry of Ukraine stated that they expected to open a memorial complex "to the heroes of Heavenly Hundred" in February 2015, on the occasion of the anniversary of the death activists. [146]
On 1 July 2014, the Verkhovna Rada (the parliament of Ukraine) established the Medal "Order of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes". [147] [148]
On 25 August 2014, President Petro Poroshenko claimed he had called the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election in order to purify parliament of MPs who had supported "the [January] Dictatorship laws that took the lives of the Heavenly hundred". [149] [150]
Kyiv City Council renamed a part of Instytutska Street into Heavenly Hundred Heroes Avenue on 20 November 2014. [151]
President Poroshenko decreed on 11 February 2015 that 20 February will annually be commemorated as "Day of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes". His decree established [an action plan to accomplish] a museum in Kyiv dedicated to Euromaidan. [5] [6] On 20 February, it is compulsory for Ukrainian TV channels to display a flaming candle or a similar stylized image, and, at 12:00, a minute of silence must be observed. [152]
The Berkut was the Ukrainian system of special police of the Ukrainian Militsiya within the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The agency was formed in 1992, shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, as the successor to the Ukrainian SSR's OMON.
The Ukrainian House International Convention Center, is the largest international exhibition and convention center in Kyiv, Ukraine. The five-storey building is the host venue for a variety of events from exhibitions, trade fairs and conferences to international association meetings, product launches, banquets, TV-ceremonies, sporting events, etc.
Euromaidan, or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv. The protests were sparked by President Viktor Yanukovych's sudden decision not to sign the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement, instead choosing closer ties to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. Ukraine's parliament had overwhelmingly approved of finalizing the Agreement with the EU, but Russia had put pressure on Ukraine to reject it. The scope of the protests widened, with calls for the resignation of Yanukovych and the Azarov government. Protesters opposed what they saw as widespread government corruption, abuse of power, human rights violations, and the influence of oligarchs. Transparency International named Yanukovych as the top example of corruption in the world. The violent dispersal of protesters on 30 November caused further anger. Euromaidan was the largest democratic mass movement in Europe since 1989 and led to the 2014 Revolution of Dignity.
The Vladimir Lenin monument in Kyiv was a statue dedicated to Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The larger than life-size Lenin monument was built by Russian sculptor Sergey Merkurov from the same red Karelian stone as Lenin's Mausoleum. It was displayed at the 1939 New York World's Fair and erected on Kyiv's main Khreshchatyk Street on 5 December 1946.
Below are the domestic responses to the Euromaidan. Euromaidan was a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine that began on the night of 21 November 2013 after the Ukrainian government suspended preparations for signing an Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the European Union.
In response to a police crackdown on Euromaidan's protesters in the early hours of 30 November, more than half a million Kyivans joined the protests on 1 December in order to defend the students "and to protect society in the face of crippling authoritarianism."
In response to anti-protest laws in Ukraine, a standoff between protesters and police began on 19 January 2014 that was precipitated by a series of riots in central Kyiv on Hrushevsky Street, outside Dynamo Stadium and adjacent to the ongoing Euromaidan protests.
As part of the Euromaidan movement, regional state administration (RSA) buildings in various oblasts of Ukraine were occupied by protesters, starting on 23 January 2014.
Euromaidan was a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on the night of 21 November 2013 with large public protests demanding closer European integration. Protesters also stated they joined because of the dispersal of protesters on 30 November and "a will to change life in Ukraine". The scope of the protests evolved over subsequent months, and by 25 January 2014 the protests were fueled by the perception of widespread government corruption, abuse of power, and violation of human rights in Ukraine. By February 2014 the protests had largely escalated into violence, resulting in the Revolution of Dignity and the resignation of Azarov's government and ousting of President Yanukovych. This resulted in the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Spilna Sprava is a political party in Ukraine registered on 19 March 2015, though active since late 2010. The name of the organisation, taken from Latin Res publica, indicates the republican nature of the movement, as well as symbolises the active civic solidarity of Ukrainians. It was founded in December 2010, during the Tax Maidan-2010 protests against the fiscal policies of Viktor Yanukovych.
The Revolution of Dignity, also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution, took place in Ukraine in February 2014 at the end of the Euromaidan protests, when deadly clashes between protesters and state forces in the capital Kyiv culminated in the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych, the return to the 2004 Constitution of Ukraine, and the outbreak of the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War.
The anti-Maidan refers to a number of pro-Russian demonstrations in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014 that were directed against Euromaidan and later the new Ukrainian government. The initial participants were in favor of supporting the cabinet of the second Azarov government, President Viktor Yanukovych, and closer ties with Russia. By the time of the Revolution of Dignity in February 2014, the “anti-Maidan” movement had begun to decline, and after the overthrow of Yanukovych, the anti-Maidan fractured into various other groups, which partially overlapped. These ranged from people protesting against social ills, to supporters of a federalization of Ukraine, to pro-Russian separatists and nationalists.
This is a timeline of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest that has erupted in Ukraine, in the aftermath of the Ukrainian revolution and the Euromaidan movement.
The assault of Euromaidan by security forces on 11 December 2013 was an attempt by Viktor Yanukovych's government to break up the Euromaidan protest through a night assault using Berkut special police units and interior ministry troops. Their tactics included the displacement of frontal peaceful protesters from lightly barricaded camps at the Independence Square and part of Khreshchatyk Street which is near Bessarabska Square.
Ukraine inherited its special forces (Spetsnaz) units from the remnants of the Soviet armed forces, GRU and KGB units. Ukraine now maintains its own Spetsnaz structure under the control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and under the Ministry of Defence, while the Security Service of Ukraine maintains its own Spetsnaz force, the Alpha group. In 2016 the Special Operations Forces were created as an independent branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine formed only by special forces units.
Mykhailo Vitaliiovych Havryliuk is a Ukrainian public figure. He participated in the 2014 Euromaidan protests as a Cossack of the Fourth Maidan Self-Defense Hundred, and was publicly tortured by Berkut officers in January 2014.
In early 2014, there were clashes between rival groups of protestors in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, during the pro-Russian unrest that followed the Ukrainian Revolution. The street clashes were between pro-revolution ('pro-Maidan') protesters and anti-revolution ('anti-Maidan'), pro-Russian protesters. Violence erupted on 2 May, when a 'United Ukraine' rally of about 2,000 was attacked by about 300 pro-Russian separatists. Stones, petrol bombs and gunfire were exchanged. A pro-Russian gunman shot dead a pro-Ukraine protester. Another pro-Ukraine activist and four pro-Russia activists were shot dead in the clashes. The pro-Ukraine group then moved to dismantle a pro-Russian protest camp in Kulykove Pole, causing some pro-Russian activists to barricade themselves in the nearby Trade Unions House. Shots were fired from the building at the pro-Ukraine group, and the pro-Ukrainians attempted to storm the building, which caught fire as the two groups threw petrol bombs at each other.
Antonina Grigorivna Dvoryanets was a Ukrainian hydraulic engineer and political activist. She began her career as an hydraulic engineer at a collective farm in Hornostaipil from 1972 to 1983 and then worked as a senior project group engineer at the Chernobyl Department of Drainage Systems between 1983 and 1987. Dvoryanets worked as a liquidator, clearing the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986. She later worked variously at the Land Reclamation and Water Management, Kyiv, then at the Chornobilvodeksploatsiya in Kyiv and the Chernobyl Special Plant until her retirement in 2014. As an activist, Dvoryanets took part in the Ukraine without Kuchma mass protest, the Orange Revolution and the Euromaidan. She was posthumously conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Gold Star and a street in Brovary was named for her.
Olha Vasylivna Bura was a Ukrainian activist who took part in the Euromaidan protests in Kyiv from late 2013 to early 2014. Born to a poor family in Busk Raion, she did not have a permanent place to work due to illness, doing various jobs in the family home, working briefly at a local bakery as well as doing childcare. Busk died after contracting a blood infection from her hand being injured by members of the Berkut some days before consulting doctors. She was posthumously conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Gold Star, a memorial plaque was installed on the primary school in Ripniv she attended was attended and a sign in the Alley of Memory of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred of Lviv Region in Khodoriv was named for her.
Oleksandr Anatoliyovych Kapinos was a Ukrainian farmer and political activist who is posthumously awarded the Hero of Ukraine in 2014. He is a member of the Svoboda party and took part in the clashes of Revolution of Dignity which resulted in his death.
We must begin purification from the highest legislative body. [...] Current composition of Parliament has been the mainstay of Yanukovych for 1.5 years. [...] The majority of these MPs voted for dictatorial laws that took the lives of Nebesna Sotnya.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)