The recording of conversation of the Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton where Paet retells the story of snipers shooting both sides was posted on internet.
The recording of phone talk of Paet and Ashton was uploaded on YouTube on Wednesday by the user named «Expertise Centre of the Russian Federation». The clip was accompanied by the message, according to which Urmas Paet “reveals the shocking information that confirms rumors that snipers were hired by leaders of Maidan.”
Some Russian media loosely interpreted this as “a proof” that the snipers were hired by the opposition.
“Urmas Paet confirmed the link between snipers on Maidan and opposition leaders” “- this is the main and at the same time fake thesis inherent in the Russian media. The Minister in fact did not support or endorse the statement, but only recounted Ashton a conversation he had with Olga Bohomolets or somebody else from public sector (it is not clear from the context ). These people believed that the new authorities are reluctant to investigate the events of February 20. He -Paet- conveys the opinion of the interlocutor that it gradually leads up to conclusion that the snipers were involved with the opposition.
And here is the information from the BBC Russian Service
The Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet , confirming the authenticity of the recording on Wednesday briefing, said he only narrated a story told him by a public figure, doctor Olga Bohomolets, on February 25 in Kyiv.
In a telephone conversation with Catherine Ashton Urmas Paet said that taking into consideration ‘the style’ of the assassins, police and demonstrators could have been the victims of the same snipers.
“She showed me some pictures saying […] that it is the same ‘handwriting’ , the same type of bullets , and it is already causing concern that new coalition does not want to investigate what exactly happened there, therefore comes a clear conclusion that it wasn’t Yanukovych who’d been behind the snipers, but someone from this new coalition, ” – said Paet in a telephone conversation , adding that if this gossip starts a life of its own, it will discredit new coalition from the very beginning.
“I call upon journalists to be careful with this recording, I only told the versions of stories about what happened in Ukraine “, told the Estonian Minister at a briefing on March 5.
Retelling Gossip
” I did not give estimates. I just expressed concern that if these rumors begin to live their own lives, it can do harm to the situation in Ukraine “, – said Paet.
Bohomolets told reporters on Wednesday that , firstly, she did not talk about the victims on both sides , as she didn’t see the bodies of policemen.
Secondly, according to Bohomolets, she did not suggest that snipers could have been lead by one of the leaders of Maidan.
“I think something like this can be mentioned only relying on the facts ,” – said Bohomolets to British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
The conversation between Paet and Ashton took place on February 26. Estonian Minister suggested that the record of this overheard conversation was posted on the Internet right now in order to discredit the new government of Ukraine.
Bohomolets told The Daily Telegraph that according to the government the investigation continues, but she is not informed about the details.
Leak through YouTube
Recording of the conversation of Paet and Ashton was posted on YouTube on Wednesday by the user named «Expertise Centre of the Russian Federation». The clip is accompanied by a message suggesting that Urmas Paet “reveals shocking information that confirms rumors that snipers were hired by leaders of Maidan.”
According to the message, the conversation was overheard by employees of the Ukrainian Secret Service (SSU).
href=”http://russian.rt.com/article/23681″>reported in the title of its news item on the subject “Ashton reported that Yanukovych was not involved in the assassination of people on Maidan.”
The clip was immediately discovered by Russian TV channel Russia Today, which had a news heading claiming that “Ashton was informed Yanukovuch had nothing to do with assassinations on Maidan”
The Head of the Russian State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Alexei Pushkov wrote on Twitter that Paet said that “the opposition was behind the snipers who shoot in protesters.”
Then several other Russian media reported already in fully affirmative that Paet talked about the evidence that snipers were hired by one of the opposition leaders.
The story of “the third party”, including snipers firing in both directions on the Maidan on February 18-20 , circulated in Kiev since the beginning of collisions with the use of firearms. However, no proper evidence has been provided in its support.
