Why did people arm themselves?
...or Two things you should know about Mariupol and Odessa.
When protests started in the South-East part of Ukraine there was no consolidated leader or system of command, integrating the districts. So, different parts chose different strategies. While the East districts turned to forceful opposition, Southern regions chose moderate "weekend action". For example, in Odessa they set up a camp on Kulikovo field. Most of the activists kept a regular job and were attending meetings on weekends. They didn't have any weapons, they didn't create disturbances or riots. Sometimes they engaged in arguments and shouting matches with their opponents, but affrays were minimal and thus no dramatic consequences ensued. Everything was quiet calm and moderate just as it was in Mariupol. Neither side had hardly beaten people, nor were there any dead, therefore no reason to disperse a demonstration! This the people believed, that they have citizen's rights to demonstrate their political leanings and nothing would endanger their safety. Unlike with the activists in Donbass, they were completely within strict legal limits.
The people of Donetsk, Lugansk and other Eastern cities understood that unarmed people cannot protect themselves as they would never be heard and an absence of weapons would just be a display of weakness. It's pity, but as I wrote already, they had no common leaders who would organize the protest appropriately.
The Police ordered activists to abandon their camps several times, but the protesters refused to comply. They didn't break any laws and Ukrainian police had no legal mandate to force them to disperse from Kulikovo field. Then, an act of calculated provocation was embarked upon to disperse protesters or give enough reason for police special forces to evict them forcefully.
The main part of this tragedy was carried out by radical provocateurs and football "ultras". Moreover, it’s already been proven that there was a group of policemen, who supported these guys!
Everybody who saw the video of Odessa's massacre, could see the bizarre behavior of the Police. It was clear that sometimes they assisted the provocateurs!
Unknown guys with red labels and rifles shot at "ultras" and ran away. These guys were unknown people to activists in the camp on Kulikovo field as no one had ever seen them before. A Police cordon stopped football fans but allowed the unknown attackers to disappear. The police did not arrest them despite the fact that they had firearms on their possession! Another suspicious detail was that some policemen wore the same red labels. After the attackers hid, the police with the red labels suddenly opened a “corridor” for "ultras" who ran to Kulikovo field.
The camp of unarmed protesters was invaded and attacked moments later. The activists were absolutely helpless. They had to run away as soon as they could. But there were a lot of elderly and children among them. They really were not ready to respond any aggressive action. It seems they didn't think it was really possible!
Regarding the attackers: there were not only "ultras" there. There were the members of "Maydan hundreds", fighters of "Right Sector", and also several "foreign visitors" were discovered among them. They burned the activist's camp, and then breaching the defensive line, these attackers forced them to retreat into the Trade Union building and surrounded it.
They had batons, shields, bottles of "Molotov cocktail", and some of them had firearms and lighting or gas grenades. Some attackers were equipped with gas-masks and vests.
Let’s stop here. I said most of them were "ultras" - football fans, arrived in Odessa for a soccer match. Do you believe that somebody, who is going to visit a sport match, takes all this kind of paraphernalia with them? Grenades, gas masks, bulletproof vests, helmets and so forth? It's obvious that ordinary fans would never take firearm, simply because you cannot enter the stadium with a gun! That's the rule! So, what would be the reason for them to do it? An answer is simple, to cause provocation. It was planned and coordinated with the assistance of the police!
The goal was achieved: hordes of attackers destroyed the camp. Policemen stood just near the camp but refused to intervene. They waited while the camp was being destroyed. And then they let radicals enter the building, where the protesters were hiding. The activists of Kulikovo Field's tried to block the doors and windows, waiting for the police to forcibly eject move the attackers out.
The Police did absolutely nothing to save those people and undeterred and unopposed radicals burned them alive! Also, they shot anybody who tried to get out of the infernal fire. Then a group of attackers broke into a house and it is not possible to accurately ascertain what took place there. There are two versions what has happened , both equally horrific! Now we know that some of the rooms were not on fire. Why were not the protesters safe there? The first version is that it was a chemical attack. Storming radicals used gas against defenseless civilians and they couldn't move to the place of safety. The second version alleges a usage of a flammable liquid by attackers.
The way the investigation has work so far we will probably never know what really occurred. Now even the people who had previous trust in justice are skeptical that the authorities in Kiev will ever find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
Only when the catastrophe became glaringly obvious, the police decided to intervene. But it was far too late!
Now I have a question. Do you think that every human has right to defend his life if someone is going to kill him? Do you think that people in the burning house had the right to use weapon to stop this massacre - not for attack but for their own physical protection? Do you think should they save themselves when even Police refused to do it?
Mariupol and Odessa were very peaceful (and passive) places. Now they are ready to take up arms.
Why do the people in Donbass still refuse to lay down their weapons? What's the reason? They don't want Odessa-2 in their city! They don't want to repeat Mariupol's tragedy, where Ukrainian military forces murdered and wounded a lot of unarmed people. They learned Odessa's and Mariupol's lesson: disarming is not the way for safety and not the way to be heard.
J.V. & El20