Ivan Katchanovski@I_Katchanovski
My new paper is now freely available: "Confirmation of False-Flag Shooting of Maidan Activists in Khmelnytskyi by Ukrainian Trial Verdict and Investigations." I presented it at 67th Annual Convention of International Studies Association on March 25
researchgate.net/publication/40…
This study analyzes revelations and findings of the Ukrainian trial verdict and other court decisions concerning killings of two Maidan protesters and wounding of 10 others in Khmelnytskyi in Ukraine on February 19, 2014. This case of political violence is closely linked to the Maidan massacre, which led to the overthrow of the Ukrainian government and ultimately to the war in Donbas, Russian military interventions in Crimea and Donbas, the Russian annexation of Crimea and conflicts of Russia with Ukraine and the West that Russia escalated by launching the illegal invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. This paper analyzes the content of the text of the verdict, which was issued by the Khmelnytskyi court in March 2025 following a several-year long closed trial, and other court decisions concerning this case from the official database of court decisions in Ukraine. This verdict and government investigations de facto confirmed, based on such evidence as videos, forensic ballistic and medical examinations, on-site investigative experiments, and witness testimonies, that the Maidan activists in Khmelnytskyi were shot not by the SBU officers but by far-right Maidan activists. The study compares this to findings of scholarly studies and narratives propagated by governments and the media and discusses implications.