New York activists call on US to stop supporting Kiev and draw attention to Odessa massacre
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NEW YORK (Sputnik) – A memorial for the victims of the 2014 massacre in the city of Odessa has been held in Union Square in New York, Greg Butterfield, coordinator of the movement “Solidarity with Novorossiya and anti-fascists in Ukraine,” told Sputnik. “.
On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian nationalists locked up pro-federalism protesters at the Odessa Trade Union House and set the building on fire. Nearly 50 people died and some 250 protesters were injured in clashes with radicals, according to the United Nations.
“We think it’s important to remember the more than 40 anti-fascists who died, and also to educate the public here about the role of the US government in supporting the right-wing regime in Kiev,†Butterfield said.
He told Sputnik that on Sunday activists held events in at least 20 cities in Europe and North America to draw attention to the conflict in southeastern Ukraine (Donbass) . At the Sunday Memorial in New York, they held banners stating “[US President Joe] Biden and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky: Let go of Donetsk and Lugansk! “,” Stop hiding! Justice for the victims of the Odessa massacre â€and“ US-NATO out of Ukraine! “
“What is amazing is how completely the US corporate media erased the Odessa massacre from history. It is therefore a difficult but important battle to break the information blockade. Today we had several good conversations with people who passed by the memorial about We will continue to organize to strengthen solidarity with the anti-fascist people of Donbass and Ukraine and to oppose war actions US-NATO versus Russia, â€Butterfield told Sputnik.
He stressed that the ongoing conflict in the south-eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk posed a major threat to global security.
“The Ukrainian state and neo-Nazi groups continue to suppress opposition in Ukraine. They continue the brutal war against the people of Donetsk and Lugansk. Washington and its NATO allies continue to arm and finance this war. Just a week or two ago, the United States and Ukraine’s escalation in the region threatened to plunge the world into war, â€Butterfield said.
© AP Photo / Sergei Poliakov
Pro-Ukrainian supporters sort waste outside the burnt down union building where more than 30 people died trying to escape during clashes in Odessa, Ukraine on Friday, May 2, 2014
He warned that the United States’ military campaigns abroad and the ongoing proxy wars will only exacerbate domestic problems.
“In 1967, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘The bombs dropped in Vietnam are exploding here at home as well.’ It is still true. US military bases, proxy wars and sanctions are hurting people around the world, but also people here by taking money to improve health care, housing, education and other urgent needs of the population. When the United States supports fascist groups in other countries to enforce its will, that also comes up with the spread of far-right and white supremacist groups here. When the US economy becomes increasingly dependent on the military industry, it leads to the militarization of the police and encourages them to take action. as an occupying force, â€Butterfield told Sputnik.
The ongoing conflict in southeastern Ukraine, where the Ukrainian army launched a special operation against the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in 2014, has killed thousands of people. The Normandie Four format, which includes Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine, was created in June 2014 to mediate the conflict after the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, known together as Donbass, had proclaimed their independence following what they saw as a coup in Kiev. in February of this year. Despite several ceasefire agreements concluded under the Norman format, the conflict in Donbass continues.
Activists of the movement “Solidarity with Novorossiya and anti-fascists in Ukraine” call for an end to the violence in south-eastern Ukraine.
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