EU urges probe into Kiev sniper carnage

The European Union (EU) has joined Russia in calling for an investigation into deadly sniper attacks in the Ukrainian capital Kiev last month.

The spokesperson for the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton said the EU hopes that an alleged connection between the Ukrainian opposition and the killing of dozens of people during the anti-government rallies will be probed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also called for a probe by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) into the fatal attacks, saying the truth about the “so-called snipers case can no longer be covered up.”

Moreover, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin has urged Ukraine’s recent events, including the use of snipers, to be investigated thoroughly.

“All events that led to the forcible change of power in Kiev, especially all manifestations of violence, must be properly investigated. When such an investigation is conducted, we will learn very many interesting things that opposition snipers shot not only their targets but also law enforcers,” Churkin told a news program on the Russian television on Saturday.

The remarks came after a recent leaked phone call between Ashton and Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet revealed that the Maidan coalition in Ukraine had hired snipers to kill both policemen and protesters.

In the 11-minute conversation, Paet said the February killings were to blame on the snipers hired by the Maidan coalition, which is the main provocateur of the crisis in Kiev.

Paet also said that ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was not behind the fatal shootings and that the shooters had been hired by the opposition.

Political crisis erupted in the Eastern European country in November 2013, when Yanukovych refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia.