In memory of a murderous fire
ALMOST exactly a year ago, on May 2nd 2014, two groups of protesters clashed in central Odessa. A heady post-revolutionary haze hung over Ukraine. A weak government had taken power in Kiev after the Maidan protests had forced President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country. Russia had annexed Crimea and pro-Russian rebels were taking over parts of the eastern Donbas region. Odessa, with its many Russian-speakers, might have been next.
Masked pro-Russian demonstrators then opened fire, scattering the pro-Ukrainian crowd. The pro-Ukrainians regrouped and pushed back to Kulikovo Pole, where pro-Russians sheltered in the Soviet-era trade-union …read more
Source: The Economist
