Polyanskiy Leads Discussion on Ukraine at UN

Dimitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, commented on an informal UN Security Council meeting on May 5 on events during the Maidan where witnesses attested to attacks on anti-Maidan Ukrainians who had taken refuge in the Trade Union House in Odessa, which rioters then set on fire, killing at least 48 people in the building. While there had been a court hearing on the subject, the case was thrown out for insufficient evidence, but it was obviously a part of the violence perpetrated by the right-wing fascist elements. The UN meeting, led by Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia, was an attempt to present some of the evidence, which included live testimony from eyewitnesses, whose videos of the events were too graphic to show, as Nebenzia explained. However, he urged that the witnesses: “are here for themselves, without any political agenda. You may ask them any questions and I strongly advise you to do so. Because without knowledge of what this country is living after the Maidan coup you will never be able to understand what really happened.” Some Western delegates were present at the meeting, but remain unimpressed by the testimony presented.