Russia has called on the United Nations (UN) to investigate a recent fire incident in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa that left dozens of pro-Russia protesters dead.
After a UN Security Council meeting on human rights in Ukraine on Wednesday, Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said he has sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “asking him to conduct an impartial investigation” into the violence.
On May 2, at least 48 people were killed and 247 injured in the clashes between pro-Moscow and pro-Kiev demonstrators in Odessa and a fire in the port city’s trade union building.
Ukraine’s acting First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema said some of the victims died instantly because of poisoning by an unknown substance.
The Russian envoy to the UN said members of the Security Council had been “unprepared” to support Moscow’s bid demanding an independent inquiry into the tragedy in Odessa.
Following the independence of Ukraine’s Crimea and its integration into Russia in March, pro-Russia protests erupted in other areas in Ukraine. The acting government in Kiev has been staging military operations in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine since mid-April in a bid to root out the pro-Russia protests.
According to figures released on Wednesday by Ivan Simonovic, the UN assistant secretary general for human rights, at least 127 people have been killed in the recent surge of violence in southeast Ukraine.
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http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/05/22/363662/russia-urges-probe-into-odessa-killing/
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