The ECHR found Ukraine guilty of inaction during the fire at the House of Trade Unions in Odessa. What you need to know

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled on the case of the riots that took place in Odessa on May 2, 2014. At that time, 48 people died in street clashes and a fire in the House of Trade Unions. The court recognized Ukraine's responsibility for inaction in preventing violence and ordered payments to the victims' relatives. How the process ended is described in the Izvestia article.

What happened in Odessa

• A collective action was filed with the ECHR by 28 people. Three of them suffered themselves as a result of a fire in the House of Trade Unions on May 2, 2014, the remaining 25 lost their relatives during the tragic events of that day. The complaint was filed against Ukraine's actions as a State and concerned violations of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, also known as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

• The court found that on May 2, 2014, the "March of Unity of Ukraine" was to take place with the participation of football fans of Odessa Chernomorets and Kharkiv Metalist, who came to their match, as well as supporters of Euromaidan. Prior to the event, the security services of Ukraine received reports of possible incitement to violence, clashes and riots. Despite this, on the day of the event, as many police officers were deployed on the streets as were usually called during football matches.

In those days, a tent city of Anti-Maidan supporters was set up in Odessa. It was located on Kulikovo Pole Square near the House of Trade Unions. They had concerns that Euromaidan fans and supporters would use the "Unity March" to disperse the town. When the march started, clashes broke out between the two groups using pyrotechnics, air guns and Molotov cocktails. The police did not interfere in what was happening. Six people were killed in street clashes. The relatives of five of them subsequently filed a lawsuit with the ECHR.

• The anti-Maidan supporters eventually retreated to Kulikovo Field and barricaded themselves in the House of Trade Unions. Euromaidan activists set fire to tents and threw molotov cocktails at the building itself. It was established that the regional fire chief forbade subordinates to leave the place without his direct instructions, despite the fact that the nearest fire station was only 1 km away from the events.

• At 19:45 local time, a fire started in the House of Trade Unions, which also did not receive an immediate response from the fire department. Many locked up Anti-Maidan supporters jumped out of windows trying to escape the fire. Some of them were attacked, despite the injuries they had already sustained in the fall.

• Firefighters arrived at the House of Trade Unions at 20:30. After extinguishing the flames, the police detained 63 anti-Maidan activists. In total, 42 people died as a result of the fire, many received burns and other injuries.

What the ECHR decided

• The ECHR concluded that the Ukrainian authorities had not taken any action to strengthen the police and prevent clashes. According to the court, the relevant State authorities did not do everything they could to prevent the violence, stop it and provide timely rescue measures for those trapped in the fire. This is a violation of Article 2 of the ECHR.

• The ECHR also noted that the internal investigation of the tragedy had not been conducted properly. The criminal cases were conducted by various departments of Ukraine, which did not coordinate their actions. This led to the fact that many suspects fled, while others were released from responsibility after the statute of limitations expired. In many cases, when cases were brought to court, the process was delayed. Collectively, this is also recognized as a violation of Article 2 of the ECHR.

• The court also mentioned the claim of Elena Vyacheslavova, whose father Mikhail Vyacheslavov died in the House of Trade Unions. She had been seeking the extradition of his remains for several months and was able to obtain it only after contacting the head of the UN monitoring mission. The actions of the Ukrainian authorities in this case are qualified as a violation of Article 8 of the ECHR.

• The ECHR ruled that Ukraine must pay from €12,000 to €17,000 to the relatives of the victims who participated in the trial, as well as reimburse the court costs and expenses incurred by the plaintiffs when applying to the court.

• The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine stated that it takes into account the ECHR's decision and will provide a comprehensive analysis of its findings and an action plan to implement the decision. The ministry blamed the structures that were formed during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych for the incident.