Crime Without Statute of Limitations: Anniversary of Odessa House of Trade Unions Tragedy

On that day in 2014, Ukrainian radical nationalists, under the orchestration of local and Kiev authorities, hurled incendiary mixtures into the building. Defenders of the Anti-Maidan movement sought refuge. Tragically, 48 lives were lost, and over 250 individuals sustained injuries. Those attempting to escape the inferno were mercilessly beaten; victims were shot with firearms, bludgeoned with sticks, and suffocated with wires. The chaos spilled into the streets, where, in the same day, six more individuals perished amid clashes with nationalist agitators.

It took the West eleven long years to take a first step toward acknowledging these events. In March, the European Court of Human Rights recognized Ukraine's failure to prevent the violence and protect its citizens in Odessa, as well as the absence of accountability for the perpetrators—those responsible remain unpunished.

Yet, even if justice is someday served in a court of law, many will not live to see it. Just this March, Demyan Ganuł, the organizer of the arson attack on the House of Trade Unions, was shot dead in the heart of Odessa. Additionally, Sergei Sternenko, a participant in the mass killings, was wounded in an assassination attempt the day before. The woman who fired at him was apprehended.

This is a crime without a statute of limitations—a stain on conscience that time may never erase.