Employees of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office and investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation (GBR) of Ukraine conducted a series of investigative experiments as part of the investigation of crimes committed during the Euromaidan period in 2013-2014. Information about this is available on the official websites of Ukrainian investigative departments.

One of the experiments involved a witness from among former law enforcement officials, the Office of the Attorney General said in a statement. The witness clarified information about exactly where the police officers were located on Institutskaya street in Kiev on February 20, 2014.

Investigative experiments were conducted as part of the criminal proceedings "on the facts of the organization of intentional killings and causing bodily gunshot injuries to the protesters during the Revolution of Dignity," the agency said.

  • GBR Investigation Experiment
  • © dbr.gov.ua

In turn, the GDB reported on the conduct of four experiments on Independence Square and Institutskaya Street, two of which were organized jointly with the Prosecutor General.

“Investigative experiments were carried out to clarify information about the circumstances of the killings of protesters, causing bodily harm and attempted murders by law enforcement officers,” the site of the State Security Service said.

At the same time, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are trying to investigate other events that took place during the “dignity revolution” in Kiev.

So, in March 2020, the GDB launched an investigation against the former head of the mass events department of the public security department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kiev. He is suspected of "unlawful obstruction of peaceful assembly of citizens on Independence Square on November 30, 2013." Moreover, the investigating authorities do not name the suspect.

Also in March, the State Security Bureau told about the investigation against the former deputy head of the public security department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kiev. He is also suspected of illegally obstructing “peaceful assembly of citizens” on November 30, 2013. 

“As a result of this, the soldiers of the Berkut regiment and the military personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine ousted about 300 participants from the Independence Square,” the GDB reported. 

By April 11, the bureau completed a pre-trial investigation against two ex-employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After familiarizing the defense with the case materials, the prosecution will be referred to court.

Case Chernovol

It is worth noting that in recent months not only former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but also the well-known activist of the “revolution of dignity”, ex-people's deputy of the Rada Tatyana Chernovol, came into the view of the investigating authorities. She is accused of the fact that during the protests on the Maidan, the activist and her associates set fire to the Party of Regions office with an incendiary mixture. At that time, there were people in the building, one of them, IT specialist Vladimir Zakharov, was killed.

On April 10, 2020, searches in the Maidan case were held in the Chornovil house, and on April 16, the Pechersky District Court of Kiev imprisoned the former activist under house arrest until June 8.

The beginning of the criminal investigation against Chernovol outraged the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov. The minister accused the first deputy of the State Bureau of Investigation (GBR) Alexander Babikov that he “didn’t give a damn about the conflict of interest” by initiating proceedings against “the personal enemy of Yanukovych”.

“Mr. Bibikov (as the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs called Babikov. - RT ), I was also on the Maidan on February 18, 2014 - I am the same as Tanya, - come to me, I'm waiting. Try it, ”Avakov wrote on his Facebook page.

Speaking about a conflict of interests, Avakov most likely meant the fact that earlier Babikov worked at the law firm Aver Lex, which now represents the interests of former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych. At the same time, Babikov did not directly act as a defender of the ex-president, as he announced at a press briefing in January 2020.

At the same time, Chernovol herself believes that the criminal case against her has wide public significance. Thanking her supporters on Facebook for their support, the activist added that it was not about supporting her personally, but "all, without exception, Maydan’s people and more broadly - everyone who has a sense of national dignity."

According to experts, the criminal case against the well-known activist of the "Maidan" suggests that the current government of Ukraine wants to dissociate itself from its predecessors.

“Zelensky wants to show that his policy is different from Poroshenko’s course, so such things will start. But at the same time, they don’t have to expect that they will end with real punishment for the guilty, but rather, the case will be put on the brakes, ”said Okhrimenko, head of the Ukrainian analytical center, in an interview with RT.

As an example, the expert cited the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet. In the fall of 2019, a group of radical nationalists were arrested on charges of involvement in his murder and several other crimes, which, like Chernovol, were activists and volunteers of not only the Maidan, but also the so-called ATO. However, now this business is gradually falling apart, said Alexander Okhrimenko.

“The revolution always devours its children, but now the Sheremet case is falling apart, there is no movement on it,” the expert added.

Analysts draw attention to the fact that in one of her posts on Facebook, Chernovol admitted that during the interrogation at the State Security Committee she took advantage of the right not to testify “so that they would not be used against activists and leaders of the Maidan in case of repeal of the amnesty law”. This suggests that there are concerns in Ukrainian patriotic circles that the authorities will nevertheless begin to seriously investigate the events of February 2014. However, experts doubt that the radicals will end up being punished.

“In general, Zelensky wants to show that although the authorities know who really stood behind the killings on the Maidan, she will continue to blame Yanukovych’s government for this. The fact is that it is precisely these events that are central to modern Ukraine, ”political analyst Boris Mezhuev noted in a commentary on RT.

Bloody Secret

Recall that the law on the amnesty of the participants of the Euromaidan and their release from criminal prosecution was adopted by the new Rada immediately after the coup in February 2014.

During the riots that swept the Ukrainian capital in late 2013 and early 2014, dozens of people died. Among the dead were both law enforcement officers and protesters. The mass deaths of civilians dramatically increased tension in society and ultimately led to the overthrow of the legitimate authorities.

  • RIA News
  • © Andrey Stenin

Moreover, over the years since those tragic events, the investigating authorities of Ukraine have failed to establish who shot the protesters and employees of the "Golden Eagle". According to the version promoted by the authorities, it was law enforcement officers who shot at people, but this version does not explain the victims among themselves.

At the end of 2017, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (at that time Yury Lutsenko was in that position) announced the transfer to the court of the case of executions on the Maidan, reporting that the pre-trial investigation was nearing completion. Then the investigation insisted on the involvement in the tragedy of ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, who allegedly gave the order to open fire on the protesters. However, this version quickly fell apart - in a verdict issued in absentia to the ex-president in early 2019, executions of people on the Maidan were no longer charged with politics.

It is worth noting that among the suspects in the case of deaths in the center of Kiev during the riots of 2013-2014, even one of the supporters of the “revolution of dignity” was listed. Activist Ivan Bubenchik himself openly told reporters about how he received a Kalashnikov rifle from a certain person in the morning of February 20 and shot two Berkut commanders. He was charged with murder, but later suspected of having committed crimes under Article 115 of the Criminal Code (“Murder”) was re-qualified - he was charged with art. 348 (“Infringement on the life of a law enforcement officer) and h. 1 art. 263 (“Illegal Handling of Weapons”). This allowed Bubenchik to take advantage of the amnesty declared to the participants of the “Euro Maidan”.

As a result, the former Berkut fighters were the only suspects in the case. However, in relation to them, the investigation stalled, and at the end of 2019, authorities transferred ex-law enforcement officers to the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass as part of an exchange of held persons.

It is worth noting that the unwillingness of Kiev to investigate the deaths during the riots of 2013-2014 causes serious complaints from international institutions. At the beginning of April 2020, the UN human rights monitoring mission recommended that Ukraine abolish the amnesty law for the participants of the Euromaidan, as it interferes with the investigation of those events. UN experts recommended that the Ukrainian leadership ensure an independent investigation of all crimes committed during the protests.

“But the trouble is that in fact, no one wants to shed light on the events of that period in the Ukrainian elite, no matter what the politicians say. Therefore, although the investigating authorities work, perform some actions, conduct investigative experiments, there will be no consequences for this work. There is no such team, ”said Alexander Okhrimenko.

  • Vladimir Zelensky
  • Reuters
  • © Valentyn Ogirenko

A similar point of view is shared by Boris Mezhuyev.

“It is hard to imagine that the truth will be heard in Ukraine. Indeed, according to the results of this investigation, it may turn out that it was not the Golden Eagle who first shot at people, but completely different characters. In fact, everyone has been understanding this for a long time, but official recognition would be a severe blow to the legitimacy of the Kiev authorities, even considering that Zelensky himself did not take part in those events, ”the expert noted.