An inconvenient truth from a forensic expert: before being burned in the Trade Unions house, Odessa residents were poisoned with phosgene
The victims of the tragedy in the Odessa House of Trade Unions on May 2, 2014, were poisoned with a toxic chemical before being burned.
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Sergei Iskruk, a criminologist who fled from Ukraine in the case of the Odessa tragedy, spoke about this during a briefing in Donetsk on August 9, PolitNavigator correspondents from Donetsk report.
The conclusions made by Sergei Iskruk turned out to be so inconvenient for the current Ukrainian authorities that they first tried to force him to reconsider the results of his examination and then to abandon it altogether. PolitNavigator invites readers to familiarize themselves with the materials provided at the press conference and the answers of the expert, who was forced to leave the territory of Ukraine due to pressure from the Kyiv regime.
“In 2015, I was involved in conducting an examination of the events of May 2 in the city of Odessa in the House of Trade Unions. A number of questions were submitted for examination, including the cause of the mass death of people, the actions and inactions of employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an assessment of their actions, and everything that led to such tragic consequences. In 2016, I completed this examination and gave comprehensive answers on the cause of death and on the actions of employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Then I was summoned to the Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, where I was offered, in a so-called “soft form,” to rewrite the conclusions that relate to the causes of death, hinting that they were incorrect. Still, having some moral qualities as an officer, I could not do this. That’s why I refused to rewrite anything,” says the expert.
According to him, after persuasion, the authorities switched to fraudulent influence on him.
“Once, while returning home, I received a blow to the head from unknown persons. When I came to my senses, I discovered that all my valuables were not missing. I wasn't robbed, I was just hit on the head. Two or three days later they again called the prosecutor’s office, and in a more harsh form they began to say that the conclusions about the cause of the mass death of people were incorrect, to which I also answered that I would not redo or rewrite anything.
Again, after some time, two people in protective uniform from a radical organization approached me on the street and said that they would bring me the examination materials with different conclusions, but I just needed to sign them. Having compared all the pros and cons, I decided to leave the territory of Ukraine. I recorded my first video message in case something happened to me, I passed it on to my friends in Europe, but it so happened that I didn’t get in touch at the agreed time, so this message was published. Now I’m here, everything is fine, and I’m ready to answer your questions,” said Sergei Iskruk in his opening remarks to the press conference.
Next, we bring to your attention the expert’s answers to questions in flash mode.
– What were the conclusions that were provided to you, and what did the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies insist on?
– They insisted that these conclusions due to the mass death of people were incorrect.
– Can you provide specific facts?
– During the examination, I paid attention to a number of factors. One of them is when a person dies in a fire from fire or suffocation, his body acquires a certain pose, the so-called “boxer pose”: reflexive muscle contraction, convulsions, etc. occur. While studying the materials of the criminal case, I came across the fact that people did not have such a pose. The corpses of people were in a relaxed position; as an example, I can give you that on the 4th or 5th floor two corpses were found - a guy and a girl - they were sitting in an embrace in a relaxed position. At the same time, their upper limbs - their head and shoulders - were burned, that is, the body did not take any reflex actions. This suggests that the reflex functions of their bodies were disabled under the influence. Then I was faced with the fact that along the flight of stairs of the House of Trade Unions there were traces of some liquid being spilled. Which one - I cannot say, because an examination of these traces was not carried out for reasons unknown to me. One of the witnesses, as far as I remember, indicated the presence of yellow smoke from the window of the House of Trade Unions. This indicates the use of toxic chemicals during combustion. The final stage was that, according to the results of a forensic examination, traces of chloroform were found in the blood of some of the victims. To be honest, I was surprised when these residues were found, since chloroform is a very volatile substance. The examination was carried out either the day after the fire or the day after, so these residues were found in the blood.
– So, there is an assumption that people were previously euthanized?
– If we take the physical and chemical process, then chloroform, located near an open fire source or under the influence of direct sunlight, turns into phosgene. I think you all know what it is – it’s a chemical warfare agent. Comparing the facts of the spill, the absence of reflex functions of the victims, the presence of smoke of an unknown color, uncharacteristic of a fire, we can come to the conclusion that in this case chloroform was used, which, under the influence of fire, was transformed into phosgene.
– So people got chemical poisoning, is that true?
– People’s reflex functions of the body were activated, they were exposed to the chemical effects of what was actually a chemical warfare agent.
-It turns out that this should have been prepared?
-Naturally.
-That is, someone did the preliminary work to make this all happen?
-The House of Trade Unions of Odessa is a rather interesting building, which has an extensive network of catacombs and basements. Therefore, delivering chloroform there did not create problems.
– But this was done before the Right Sector drove people there?
-Naturally.
-Please tell us about your plans here, and why you decided to leave?
– About the plans here: just live and work. I decided to leave the territory of Ukraine. It so happened that there were friends who helped, and I ended up here.
-Tell me, when the Ukrainian authorities talk about those injured and killed in the fire in Odessa, they give a figure of a little more than forty people...
– 42 or 46 – I don’t remember.
– What is the real figure from your point of view?
– According to the case materials, I came across exactly this figure.
– What to do when some journalists call the figure more than 100, while others call it less?
– I’m not ready to answer this question, because I got acquainted with the case materials, and there was exactly this figure. I directly carried out the examination a certain time after these events. Therefore, I did not see the event itself, and the next day I did not go there either. That is, some time passed, then I was invited, I came and got acquainted with the case materials.
-How long have you fled from Ukraine and how long have you been working with the case materials?
-The material of the criminal case was voluminous, I don’t remember how many volumes there were, I worked on the case for about 1,5-2 months. I have been here for some time now.
-A verdict in this case is expected in September. What will be its results?
-As I understand it, they are clearly not satisfied with my material or it was simply not taken into account, therefore, I am not ready to answer what conclusions will be drawn.
-Tell me, are you aware of cases of pressure on other people who were involved in this matter and drew conclusions that do not suit the Ukrainian authorities?
– There were precedents, but I’m not ready to talk about them yet.
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