Sniper fire of contested origin triggered security-force defections and Yanukovych’s fall

Evidence

At 8:00 a.m., bullets began to whip back and forth across the square. Protesters and police both fell to the ground. This was sniper fire. Some shots appeared to come from buildings controlled by pro-Maidan forces. Over fifty people died—mostly protesters. Maidan supporters and international media responded to the massacre with horror. Security forces began to defect, unwilling to kill or die for whatever it was that the Yanukovych government now stood for. Russian media, which had been emphasizing and exaggerating the role of far-right elements on the square, soon claimed that armed militants had carried out a false flag operation to provoke regime change. — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 510

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships