The former commanders of the Kharkiv and Lviv Berkut battalions, as well as the assistant chief of staff of one of these units, will be tried for organizing the murders of protest participants in Kyiv during the Revolution of Dignity.
This is reported by the State Bureau of Investigation.
On February 18, 2014, under the guise of conducting an anti-terrorist operation, the state leadership decided to forcibly disperse the Maidan in the center of Kyiv.
The day before, Berkut units were additionally armed with pump-action shotguns and cartridges with lead buckshot and bullets. They also used Russian-made stun grenades that had not undergone proper safety testing.
It was established that on the night of February 19, 2014, Berkut units from Kharkiv and Lviv regions, led by the defendants, together with other security forces, repeatedly attempted to clear Maidan. As a result of these actions, 12 people died and over 130 received injuries of varying severity, including gunshot wounds.
The commander of the Lviv Berkut, who had Russian citizenship, was later stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship. According to the investigation, the assistant chief of staff appropriated a firearm and hid it to complicate ballistic examinations and the work of investigators.
The court imposed preventive measures on the accused, and their property was seized.