In memory of a murderous fire ALMOST exactly a year ago, on May 2nd 2014, two groups of protesters clashed in central Odessa. A heady post-revolutionary haze hung over Ukraine. A weak government had taken power in Kiev after the Maidan protests had forced President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country. Russia had annexed Crimea and pro-Russian rebels were taking over parts of the eastern Donbas region. Odessa, with its many Russian-speakers, might have been next.
Masked pro-Russian demonstrators then opened fire, scattering the pro-Ukrainian crowd. The pro-Ukrainians regrouped and pushed back to Kulikovo Pole, where pro-Russians sheltered in the Soviet-era trade-union building. Molotov cocktails flew and the building erupted in flames, trapping hundreds inside. Elena Radzikhovskaya, a local history professor, went to search for her son Andrei, who had joined the protests. She called him but, she says, “A strange voice answered and told me, ‘Your son is dead’.” A year later, Ms Radzikhovskaya still wears black.
At least 48 people died in the clashes. Six were Maidan activists killed in the first skirmish;…
