‘Special police’ shot Kyiv protesters – initial inquiry
3 April 2014
Last updated at 10:58
A number of protesters were also injured in Kyiv on 18-20 February
Ukraine’s special police shot dead dozens of anti-government protesters in Kyiv in February, an initial government inquiry has found.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov told reporters 12 members of the Berkut police had been identified and three of them had been already arrested.
The inquiry relates to the shootings on Instytutska street in Kyiv, where 76 people were killed on 18-20 February.
Months of mass protests led to the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych.
At a news conference, Mr Avakov presented the initial findings of the investigation into the mass shootings that shocked Ukraine and the world.
Most of the demonstrators were killed on Instytutska street near the main protest camp on Independence Square – widely known as the Maidan.
Mr Avakov gave details of one particular episode where he said the inquiry had established that eight of those killed were hit by bullets from the same machine gun.
The minister also showed a number of slides and photos illustrating where the alleged police snipers were firing from. He said that a number of shooters had already been identified.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Security Service chief Valentyn Nalyvaychenko said that Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) operatives had been involved in planning operations against the protesters.
He added that the FSB had sent “tonnes” of explosives and weapons by plane to Ukraine.