.
[Update] Continued in my newest diary @BooMan:
How the Events of Sniper Fire In Instytutska Street Unfolded – Videos on Fri Mar 7th, 2014
BBC report sniper shooting from media centre Ukraine Hotel, which later became an infirmary for treating the injured.
Through a Polish national, I found more footage of the black-ops with yellow armbands for recognition. Now I could locate their position: in front of the International Center of Culture and Arts (October Palace). This is the very setting across from the Ukraine Hotel where a group of protesters became victim from snipers.
Yes, it’s clear the opposition groups possessed firearms, pistols and rifles. Later, evidence shows they also possessed sniper rifles seen in BBC report and a local report of a Ukrainian MP from the Fatherland party caught with a sniper rifle in the trunck of his car. Opposition security allowed him to pass.
Kiev Truce Shattered, Dozens Killed
(The Atlantic) Feb. 20, 2014 – Last night, Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych, working with opposition leaders in the months-long protest, declared a truce, hoping to begin negotiations. Within hours, each side was accusing the other of betraying the agreement, and some of the most-violent clashes to date took place, leaving dozens of protesters lying dead in Kiev’s Independence Square, and hundreds more injured in nearby aid centers and hospitals. With the failure of these negotiations, and the escalating violence, fears are growing that President Yanukovych will declare a state of emergency, bringing military enforcement into the situation. The photos here are from the past 24 hours in Kiev. Also, see: Bloody Battles in Kiev, from yesterday. [37 photos]
Video shows evidence of snipers firing at protesters in Kiev
Published on 20 Feb. 2014 Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio LibertyThis video shows security forces [or titushki] snipers firing at crowd. There were renewed clashes between security forces and protesters in Kiev’s Independence Square on February 20 despite a putative ceasefire. Sniper fire was widely reported. Daily report of clashes can be found here.
[Update1] France24: Are ‘agent provocateurs’ infiltrating Ukraine’s protest movement? [04.12.2013]
The Guardian posted video as : amateur footage! Thursday 20 Feb. 2014 – 3min 14sec
Amateur footage purports to show Ukrainian protesters in Kiev attempting to protect themselves with shields as they are fired at by police using live rounds. One man falls to the ground apparently wounded, and a group are seen carrying an injured person. The violence on Thursday is the deadliest so far as anti-government demonstrations continue to grip the capital.
On this video, the source “RadioSvoboda.org” is labeled in video during first 35 sec.
Some added comments by The Guardian with time stamp:
00:07 Riot police in Kiev, Ukraine, fire live rounds at protesters on Thursday
00:35 [Shows footage of victims behind shields, several got hit by sniper fire – Oui]
00:40 Separate footage, not independently verified, appears to show anti-government protesters being shot at
02:08 [Different location, three men retreating from knolly hill, one sliding down wounded? – Oui]
03:08 [This portion is duplicated, same video shot at 00:48 – Oui][Was the first 35 seconds with accusation at riot police verified?]
Watch the video and determine who these thugs are, rifles look like Kalashnikov rifles, some don’t have militia boots but black leather shoes, no insignes/patches and all wear a distinct yellow armband. Search for more photos and analyze who these men in the group of thugs are. The video clip has signature of RadioSvoboda.org. I searched WhoIs and DNS lookup. To my astonishment this domain is registered in Washington DC to Radio Free Europe with contact Ray Ludendorff [Email: Ludendorffr(at)rferl.org]; IP address RadioSvoboda.org 72.246.55.18 and RadioSvoboda.org 72.246.55.41. Does this mean the footage is recorded by Radio Free Europe (Rferl) and this has nothing to do with the Svoboda party or its members? In Russian, Svoboda means Freedom.
I had read and heard some rumours about these guys, so I started digging a little deeper. I didn’t come to a conclusion yet, hoping bloggers can help out with this task. Who are the thugs operating as black-ops snipers, titushki?
(Sean’s Russia Blog) – Titushki is a new word from Ukrainians’ lexicon that the whole world is now learning. This is the name for strong, athletic young men hired for money to cause trouble at public gatherings, who start up fights, who carry out other illegal actions. They operate under police protection or with the police taking no action at all. In fact, this is a shadow army of mercenaries that pro-regime forces have created for use against the people of Ukraine.
The Symbol of Generation “T”
Vadim Titushko, an athlete from Belaia Tserkov’, bestowed his name on Ukrainian hired provocateurs. Fame arrived for him not in the ring, but during a public gathering, “Rise Up Ukraine!,” where Titushko beat up Channel Five TV reporter Ol’ha Snytsarchuk and her husband, the photographer Vlad Sodel’. The incident happened May 18, 2013, in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) administration building on Vladimir Street in Kiev.
Continued below the fold …
Press freedom situation in Ukraine – May 2013
Criminal proceedings were launched on the May 18 incident under Part 2 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code (hooliganism) and Part 1 of Article 171 of the Criminal Code (hindering journalists from their professional activities). On May 22, Shevchenkivsky District Court released suspect Vadym Titushko from a pre-trial detention facility on Hr 22,940 bail. On May 23, the Verkhovna Rada set up a temporary investigation commission to probe the May 18 attacks on the media in Kyiv.
Thug Vadym Titushko switches sides, now allegiance to protesters!
(BBC News) Feb. 1, 2014 – This man, Vadym Titushko, used to be one of Ukraine’s most notorious pro-government vigilantes, paid to show up at protests and cause trouble. Now he’s switched sides to join the protesters, saying he doesn’t want his name to be a byword for a thug any longer.
So from early February, the titushki thugs switched sides and now work for pay on the anti-government protesters. Who are the uniformed police, Berkut special troops or thugs working on either side?
Ukraine: Provoking the Euromaidan
(SSEES-UCL) Dec. 3, 2013 – The pro-democratic media and the opposition were quick to denounce them as provocateurs, `titushki’ – a term that has entered the Ukrainian political lexicon, after the May 2013 disturbances in Kyiv, when a group of young sportsmen – among them Vadym Titushko – were hired by the authorities to attack the opposition and journalists.
The story on 1 December was more complicated. Video footage uploaded on YouTube later that day revealed two white minivans owned by the State Security Administration which had brought a few dozen unknown people in civilian clothes to the yard close by the police cordon on Bankova Street. These might have been titushki, but it is not clear whether they actually took part in the attacks on the police.
What is clear is that the hard core of the violent crowd was not the titushki, but right-wing extremists and far right football hooligans. Almost all of them wore masks and yellow armbands with the wolf’s hook symbol; and were clearly equipped for battle.
« click for story The black wolf’s hook on yellow armbands revealed their political affiliation: the Social-National Assembly (SNA), a largely Kyiv-based neo-Nazi organisation, which hoped to register as a political party in 2011 but failed to do so. Its leaders and ideologues are currently jailed on dubious charges.
There were also activists from other right-wing extremist organisations. The call to arms came via the social networking website VKontakte where they formed a group ‘The Maidan Action Right-Wing Sector‘ and it was this particular group that attacked police on Bankova Street. In addition to the SNA, the ‘Right-Wing Sector’ also includes Tryzub (Trident) and Bily Molot (White Hammer). Tryzub was originally formed in 1993 as a paramilitary unit of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, but then became an independent organisation. In September 2009, Tryzub activists took part in attacks on gay people; and cut off the head of the Stalin monument in Zaporizhzhya in December 2010. Bily Molot is a relatively new group, which attracted some publicity by smashing a number of illegal casinos in Kyiv and the regions.
Dozens killed as Ukraine crisis reaches breaking point
KIEV (Alliance News) Feb. 20, 2014 – Dozens of people have been killed and scores injured in heavy street fighting in Kiev on Thursday, making it the bloodiest day in the three-month conflict in Ukraine. The bloodshed overshadowed crisis talks between President Viktor Yanukovych and the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland, which ended after five hours. The trio was set to meet three opposition leaders later in the day. Doctors and police confirmed 16 dead by late afternoon, but protest leaders put the numbers far higher. The nationalist Svoboda opposition party said that more than 60 protesters had been killed in the fighting in and around Kiev’s Independence Square, the Maidan. “They were killed by the guardians of the Yanukovych regime,” said Svoboda lawmaker Svyatoslav Khanenko . From this link we know he is the medical coordinator, counting the dead? The report does mention a policeman had been shot 28 times!
…
The Interior Ministry said earlier that anti-government snipers had been shooting at police. Photos and videos posted online showed masked men carrying what resembled Kalashnikov assault rifles. A video published by Radio Svoboda showed a sniper with a precision rifle lying on the ground surrounded by men in black uniforms wearing yellow armbands. The fighting began Thursday morning, just hours after Yanukovych and opposition leaders had declared a truce after late night talks the day before.However, at least one video by Russian state broadcaster RT purportedly showed a group of anti-government snipers in a hotel room above Freedom Square. [Source: Voice of Russia]
Thousands of protesters on the square and surrounding streets pelted police with firebombs and Molotov cocktails, while the area was filled with black smoke from burning tyres. Protest leaders said they had captured riot police officers who had shot at protesters. Television footage showed men dressed in black being escorted through the crowd.
The Guardian: Ukraine crisis: deadly clashes shatter truce – Thursday 20 February
- ○ Russia Backs Off Ukraine Union After Lenin Statue Falls
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○ Today’s Zaman: Playing with fire in Ukraine