The Maidan Massacre in Ukraine

“A courageous and important study of one of the most momentous events in recent history. Based on a painstaking analysis of the available evidence, Katchanovski demonstrates how the false flag shootings of 18–20 February 2014 unfolded and their impact on subsequent developments in Ukraine. If a single book can change our understanding of a historical event, this is it.” —Richard Sakwa, Emeritus Professor of Russian and European Politics, University of Kent, UK “Katchanovski’s study is a model of contemporary social science research based on social media, testimonies of participants, and evidence and verdicts of subsequent legal trials. Analysis derived from the data is unparalleled in the study of extra-legal politics in post-Soviet Ukraine. This is a convincing book which should be read by everyone interested in knowing the truth about current developments in Ukraine and especially the underlying causes of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict.” —David Lane, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Cambridge University This open access book provides a comprehensive analysis of the Maidan massacre in Ukraine. It uses a theoretical framework of rational choice, moral hazard, state- repression backfire, and Weberian ideas about rational action to explore the massacre. The book draws on publicly available videos, photos and audio recordings of the massacre in English, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish and other languages, along with several hundred individual testimonies and revelations from the Ukrainian investigation and a trial and its verdict. By examining which parties were responsible for the massacre, the book analyses its implications for not only Russia’s war on Ukraine but also political developments across the globe. Ivan Katchanovski teaches at the School of Political Studies and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada. He held academic positions at Harvard University, the State University of New York at Potsdam, the University of Toronto, and the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. His academic publications include 5 books, 2 forthcoming books, 20 articles in peer- reviewed journals, and 12 book chapters. He is the author of the forthcoming book From the Maidan to the Russia-Ukraine War.