Leaked: Kiev Snipers Hired by Maidan Coalition [Full]
A leaked phone call between EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, and Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet has revealed that the Maidan coalition in Ukraine hired snipers to kill both policemen and protesters.
In the 11-minute conversation, whose authenticity has been confirmed by the Estonian Foreign Ministry, Paet said last month's deaths were to blame on the snipers hired by the Maidan coalition, which is the main provocateur of the crisis in Kiev. "What was quite disturbing...all the evidence shows that people who were killed by snipers from both sides, among policemen and people from the streets, that they were the same snipers killing people from both sides," Paet added.
"I didn't know..., Gosh," Ashton replied.
Paet said the head of Maidan medical service, Olga Bogomolets, had shown him photos proving that the snipers were involved.
"She is medical doctor, she can say it is the same handwriting, the same type of bullets, and it is really disturbing that the new coalition, that they don't want to investigate what exactly happened," the Estonian minister said.
"I think we do want to investigate. I didn't pick that up. That's interesting. Gosh," Ashton said. Paet added, "So there is a stronger and stronger understanding that behind snipers it was not [the ousted president, Viktor] Yanukovych, it was somebody from the new coalition."
The Estonian Foreign Ministry said the 11-minute conversation took place between the two senior officials on February 26.
On February 23, the Ukrainian parliament ousted Yanukovych and named Oleksandr Turchynov, the legislature's newly-elected speaker, as interim president.
The ouster followed weeks of unrest that was triggered after Yanukovych refrained from signing the Association Agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia in November 2013.
KA/HSN/SS
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