May 2, 2026:

JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE ODESSSA MASSACRE!”

“We do not forget! We do not forgive!”

May 2, 2026, marks 12 years since what has become known as the Odessa Massacre. On that date in 2014, just a few months after the violent coup that forced out the elected president of Ukraine, a large mob led by openly fascist organizations drove a smaller group of anti-coup opponents into the five-story House of Trade Unions in Odessa’s Kulikovo Square, and set the building on fire.

At least 42 people died from the flames, smoke inhalation or by being beaten to death after jumping from windows to escape the fire. To this date, not a single person has been charged with the arson or murders, even though many people posted their videos of the massacre online.

On May 2, 2016, at the invitation of the Council of Mothers of  May 2, relatives and friends of those who were murdered, the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, with support from the United National Antiwar Coalition, organized a three-person delegation to travel to Odessa as International Observers at the second annual memorial of the massacre, which the fascist organizations were threatening to attack.

Each year since then, the Odessa Solidarity Campaign of the Virginia Defenders has promoted local actions on May 2 to remember the victims of the massacre and demand an impartial, international investigation, leading to prosecution of those responsible.

This year we are sharing “Direct from Odessa,” a special report we have received from Odessa about the desperate measures the Ukrainian government is taking to “recruit” new blood for its war against Russia, and steps the local government in Odessa has taken to suppress memorials about the massacre. This report is a unique insight into the reality of life today in Ukraine.

You can read this report, with videos, at “Direct from Odessa.”

Also included here are:

• “The Provocations Behind the ‘Unprovoked’ War.” An opinion piece about the war between Russia and Ukraine by OSC Coordinator Phil Wilayto, published July 24, 2022, in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginia’s leading newspaper.
• “Eyewitness Odessa: Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine.” An OSC account of the U.S. delegation’s participation in the Odessa Memorial held May 2, 2016, published in CounterPunch magazine May 13, 2016.
• The OSC webinar “The Odessa Massacre: US and NATO Out of Ukraine!” promoted on May 2, 2024, featured four activists who had visited Ukraine since the Odessa Massacre.
• The documentary “Wildfire: The Odessa Atrocities of May 2, 2014.” Produced by leftvision.de and Ulrich Heyden and Marco Benson. 45 minutes; subtitled in English.

Today it is nearly impossible to get accurate information about what is really happening in Ukraine. The mass media in the  U.S. and Europe present just one view: That Ukraine is a struggling democracy suffering from a totally unprovoked attack by its Russian neighbor. Nowhere is there any mention of the 2014 coup, the Odessa Massacre or the 2014 attack by the Ukrainian military and fascist paramilitaries against the people of the Donbass region – let alone the overall strategy of the U.S. government and NATO to isolate, weaken and ultimately reduce the Russian Federation to an economic neocolony of the West.

We hope the information in these reports helps to provide much-needed insights into what is happening in Ukraine today, and so motivate more people to demand justice for the victims of the Odessa Massacre; an end to U.S. military, economic and political support for the Ukrainian government; and the reallocation of funds from the Pentagon to meet human needs here at home, as well as reparations for all the damage Washington has inflicted on so many people around the world.

For more information, contact: