The massacre at Kiev’s Maidan was a major turning point in the Ukrainian crisis in which the BBC played a key role on reporting of events. This post will examine the BBC video reports of reporter Gabriel Gatehouse as he covered the Maidan sniper massacre and it will demonstrate that the videos his team filmed clearly show that Gatehouse’s own on camera acceptance of an undercover British forensic investigative team version of events fails to match his own personal experience of being shot at by a sniper in the Hotel Ukraine, a sniper, who incidentally, was not included in the ‘official’ investigation final report conducted by the post coup Kiev based government of Ukraine.
At the time of the Maidan Massacre on February 20, 2014, the Hotel Ukraine was occupied and controlled by opposition forces including the Right Sector neo-nazi groups led by Andriy Parubiy that were the frontline foot soldiers being used as a battering ram against the Yankovich led government.
In the following video filmed on February 20th, 2014, we see Gabriel Gatehouse and his BBC team clearly shot at from the Hotel Ukraine at the 2:35 mark. The BBC report verifies snipers were in the Hotel Ukraine behind protesters. Gatehouse even goes so far as to identify the room the shooters are located in, stating ” from one of the upper windows of the hotel a shot rang out…….up there, yes….our hotel…..upper window 5th row from the left…2nd from the top….the one that is open”. He then states ” I saw the shooter, he was wearing one of the protester’s green helmets”.
Ukraine Protests: 'Sniper' fires from Ukraine media hotel - BBC News - posted February 21, 2014
In this 2nd video at the 3:50 mark we see Gabriel Gatehouse in the unedited version of the same video cursing about the rifle shot which just barely misses him. Before being shot at he states clearly “What is that, that window facing directly to us……fuck….let’s get the fuck out of here!”
Under sniper fire in Ukraine uprising - BBC News - posted February 28, 2014
Now here is where things get interesting. In the following BBC video, filmed 4 days later, and featuring the very same Gabriel Gatehouse, he accepts the version of events of a team of anonymous undercover British forensic experts who neglect to include the sniper that shot at him and his BBC crew from the Hotel Ukraine. He makes no mention of this fact, nor does he correct their reporting, and instead, simply accepts their stated version of events that the snipers were in other locations and government positions which has been deduced by the anonymous team based on bullet scars on surrounding objects.
NEWSNIGHT: Gabriel Gatehouse talks to British investigators in Kiev -posted February 24, 2018
Video only has 9,681 views as of June 9, 2018.
(Note also that in the rarely seen video above that the BBC has disabled the ability to comment.)
At the 1:58 mark above, Gatehouse states “It’s amazing how you can work that all out”. The anonymous forensic expert then states “It was just a bloodbath really……wasn’t it?” To which Gatehouse quizzically nods and says “Yes it was”.
At the 2:26 mark, while standing in front of a barricade, Gatehouse then states “The investigator’s say that there were at least 4 sniper positions…..one at ground level, here at this barricade, and then another 3 in the tall buildings behind it over there (points at government side) they were shooting directly down this road in the direction of the hotel where we were staying (camera then pans towards the Hotel Ukraine) and the square beyond”. Gatehouse makes no mention whatsoever of the sniper that shot at his crew in the previous BBC videos taken on February 20th, 2014. The rest of the video features interviews with members of the groups who took over the city and a short BBC expose’ on deposed Ukrainian President Victor Yankovich’s estate.
The following BBC video was released a full year later on February 12, 2015 and finally features Gabriel Gatehouse revealing there were snipers shooting from other buildings than the ones the anonymous British forensic team cited. The BBC video makes no direct mention of these snipers intentionally shooting protesters, nor does it accurately portray that 10 Ukrainian Berkut police officers were killed by snipers, instead, it inaccurately states that only 3 police officers were killed in the footnotes to the video and it creates an even more confusing version of events. This video does features Berkut police radio communications pointing out clearly that a sniper was in the Hotel Ukraine and even gives a precise location description stating at the 2:16 mark “Second level from the top on the left side of the Hotel Ukraine”.
Now be careful to pay close attention to what Gabriel Gatehouse states in the video below at the 4:24 mark after interviewing Andriy Parubiy (Right Sector Commandant). He states ” the location matters, the Hotel Ukraine was that morning largely under the control of government forces, but the conservatory building several hundred meters away was firmly in the hands of protesters.” Later in the BBC video, a new narrative is introduced about a sniper in the conservatory building. The statement that the Hotel Ukraine was under government control is obviously inaccurate due to the fact that Gabriel Gatehouse had already previously identified a green helmeted protester in the window that he pointed out in this video and previous videos. He also had stated previously that the Hotel Ukraine was occupied by protestors as a makeshift medical facility. Yet, strangely, in this fourth video he refers to it as a building under the control of government forces. Then he interviews Andriy Parubiy again on the possibilities of snipers in the Hotel Ukraine and takes his words at face value that his Maidan Right Sector neo-nazi foot-soldiers did not locate a sniper in the Hotel Ukraine (once again, this provides more proof that the hotel was not under government control as Gatehouse previously stated).
Snipers at Maidan: The untold story of a massacre in Ukraine - Newsnight - posted February 12, 2015
Gatehouse slightly redeems himself at the 11:40 mark in the video when he states ” I’ve spoken to a senior investigator at the general prosecutors office here, he’s convinced that whoever was firing from the Hotel Ukraine was targeting both sides. He’s gathering evidence that he says will prove that the massacre on Maidan on the 20th of February was the culmination of a carefully worked out plot….the aim of which was to cause maximum chaos…..but he says that his investigation is constantly being blocked by the courts.” (Note that nothing of substance has ever come of this Kiev led investigation, instead a few Berkut officers have been scapegoated for the killings).
Gatehouse’s reporting then reverts to narratives based on Russia blaming put forth by the same Andriy Parubiy, CIA blaming put forth by anonymously cited Russians and finally wrapping up with the statement that Maidan was all about good people coming together, yet, unfortunately people were manipulated and no one knows by whom……..thus, resulting in the waters being thoroughly muddied enough to conceal everything, even though the BBC itself has previously reported on the dangers of Maidens Right Sector neo-nazis.
Neo-Nazi threat in new Ukraine: NEWSNIGHT - uploaded February 28, 2014 (Comments disabled) - 689,434 views
Judging from all the above, if the BBC’s goal was to confuse the hell out of the general public with their ‘reporting’, then they have performed a remarkable job. The waters are completely muddied, there’s been plenty of time for all evidence to be destroyed (even the tree’s were removed) and a complete cloud of confusion now hovers over the sniper murders that took place at Maidan on February 20th, 2014. A closer look at the actions of participating BBC interviewee Andriy Parubiy would certainly be a good place to start when it comes to accessing the truth about the snipers that killed the so called ‘heavenly 100’ at Maidan.
On a more professional and decent note, there have been some remarkable researchers cacheing information and investigating what really happened in Kiev on February 20th, 2014 and I will link to them here so that other researchers may continue to look more deeply into this terrible tragedy that has now led to the New Cold War between the United States and Russia.
The best place to start is here:
The “Snipers’ Massacre” on the Maidan in Ukraine
by Ivan Katchanovski, Ph.D. School of Political Studies University of Ottawa
https://www.academia.edu/8776021/The_Snipers_Massacre_on_the_Maidan_in_Ukraine
"A Closer Look on Syria" website also compiled a huge amount of information related to the event as well as one of the best Maidan video troves online:
http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Maidan_snipers
http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Talk:Maidan_snipers
http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Talk:Maidan_snipers/Suspects
http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Maidan_snipers/Victims
September 2014 German TV investigation disproves the West’s claim that Yanukovych was responsible for killing of dozens of Ukrainian protestors. (English Subs)
German TV 10.4.14 Who were the Maidan snipers Ukraine - 6,069 views
Linked below is the most shocking video showing the sniper killings up close (Graphic Warning). This particular group of victims appear to have all been shot from behind by the snipers in the Hotel Ukraine, the evidence proving such (trees with bullets lodged in them showing azimuth of fire) were removed not long after the massacre. The fact that these victims were all sent forth from the Hotel Ukraine with no firearms of their own is also cause for suspicion on the actions of Andriy Paruiby and his Right Sector soldiers who were occupying the Hotel Ukraine.
Shocking video of Revolution in Ukraine Kiev 20.02.2014 - uploaded February 22, 2014 - (4,174 views)
Highly recommended IMBD documentary – Maidan Massacre 2014 - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4052016/
Russian version in English language –
Maidan Massacre Master Бойня на Майдане (русские субтитры) - uploaded October 20, 2014
No proper investigation has ever been conducted by the Kiev regime that performed a coup utilizing neo-nazi battalions and took control of the Ukrainian government in February 2014. For those looking for more regarding the US instigated New Cold War with Russia please see my CoS posts on Zbigniew Brzezinski’s Grand Chessboard and implementation of the war in Ukraine.
IMI- Analysis – Understanding the Grand Chessboard
Link to original Clarity of Signal post on the BBC's reporting on the Maidan snipers
Additional screenshots from video above features my comments and responses from 3 years ago when I used to post under the name Go West Young Man.