Ukraine is marking one year since the deadliest days of the protests which forced out the previous government. The 20th of February 2014 saw the worst violence, with over 50 people killed in central Kiev. People in the Ukrainian capital have been paying tribute to the victims of the Maidan massacre, laying flowers and lighting candles at the scene of last year’s bloodshed. Back then the new leaders in Kiev, along with their supporters in the US and EU, pointed the finger at the riot police, but witness accounts and media investigations paint a different picture, as RT‘s Lizzie Phelan reports.

Maidan Massacre

Maidan Massacre, directed by John Beck Hofmann, is an investigative documentary into the shootings which occurred on February 20th, 2014, when nearly 50 people were gunned down on the streets of Kiev’s Independence square. The massacre was the result of a massive three month long protest against the former Government of Viktor Yanukovich and his decision to reject a trade deal with the EU. Although no thorough investigation had been conducted, the blame was immediately placed on the officers who served under Yanukovich. This program investigates the scene of the crime, interviewing those who were there when the shootings occurred, and seeks to answer the questions as to who really was shooting that day on Kiev’s Independence square – a place known to the people of Ukraine, as Maidan.