The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has notified former head of the Interior Ministry's branch in Odesa region Petro Lutsiuk of suspicion of negligence of duties during the tragic events in Odesa on May 2, 2014.
“As a result of the pre-trial investigation, the former head of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s main department in Odesa region on April 30, 2015, was notified of the suspicion of committing criminal negligence,” the PGO press service reported on May 2 without specifying the name of the suspect.
Investigators established that the leadership of the Interior Ministry’s agencies didn’t ensure the proper protection of public order on May 2, 2014, which allowed a column of people – participants of the For Unity march and an organized group of people who tried to prevent the march to clash on Hretska Street in Odesa.
The clashes led to mass disturbances, which spread to the Kulikove Pole near the House of Trade Unions, and for a while completely spun out of control of the Interior Ministry.
As the result, in the vicinity of Hretska Square, 18 people got gunshot wounds, six of them died. The fire in the House of Trade Unions killed 42 people, ten of whom jumped to their death from the building trying to escape fire and 32 died as a result of poisoning carbon monoxide and combustion products. A total of 250 people were injured during the riots, the PGO said.
The press service also recalled that a hunt was launched for the former deputy chief of the Odesa regional police Dmytro Fuchedzhi who is suspected of committing official crimes.
On the day of the tragedy, May 2, 2014, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s main department in Odesa region was headed by Petro Lutsiuk. On May 3, 2014, he was dismissed by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.
