Prosecutor General’s Office announces initiation of case against Berkut officers for first shots fired on Maidan
Office of the Prosecutor General reported on the submission to court of the indictment against the former company commander of the “Berkut” special unit of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Sevastopol and two policemen of this unit. They are accused of the mass murders of activists that took place on February 20, 2014 on Instytutska Street in Kyiv during the Euromaidan events.
According to the investigation, the accused exceeded their authority by carrying out a clearly criminal order. They are charged with violence, illegal interference with peaceful assembly, intentional murder of three people and attempted murder of three others. The crimes were committed using firearms – Fort-500 pump-action shotguns equipped with lead bullets.
As the investigators found out, at approximately 9:00 a.m. on February 20, 2014, the accused, acting together with other units, in particular with the Kyiv “Berkut”, opened fire on the participants of the protest actions. As a result, three activists were killed, and three more were seriously injured.
These crimes were the beginning of large-scale intentional killings and injuries of protest participants, which were later committed by the so-called “black company” of the Kyiv “Berkut” and other special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs using automatic and sniper weapons.
After the events on the Maidan, the defendants returned to Sevastopol, where they later sided with Russia and contributed to the annexation of Crimea.
We will remind that on February 20, 2014, 48 protesters were killed in Kyiv, more than 90 people were injured.
