© Reuters / Vincent Kessler; (inset) Getty Images / kutaytanir; Getty Images / visual7European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg, France.
In a statement released on Thursday, officials in Moscow revealed that they had applied to the European Court of Human Rights with an inter-state complaint for the first time. According to the release, they are requesting that justices look into "the responsibility of the Ukrainian authorities for the death of civilians, illegal imprisonment and cruel treatment of people," in both the Maidan and in the subsequent conflict in the Donbass.
Comment: Recent statements from Russia seem to reveal concern that, since Kiev has repeatedly flouted the peace process and with deaths in Donbass surpassing 13,000 people, a critical juncture has been reached and Russia is being forced to intervene, diplomatically, at first, to prevent the already dire situation deteriorating further.
A series of bloody incidents defined the 2014 conflict, including the deaths dozens of supporters of the uprising at the hands of police, and 39 anti-Maidan protesters killed when activists torched the Trade Unions House in Odessa. Dozens of Maidan supporters were killed by sniper fire on Kiev's central square in February of that year, in an incident which has never properly been investigated. Some historians, such as Canadian-Ukrainian professor Ivan Katchanovski, have questioned whether that attack had been orchestrated, in an effort to inflame anti-government sentiment.
Comment: It's unlikely that the ECHR will treat Russia's complaint fairly, but, where possible, Russia follows due process. Moreover, the crimes mentioned above will be on the official record, the ECHR will be exposed for the corrupt institution that it is, and, ultimately, should current events worsen, it's likely that Russia will take the necessary action, in the same way it did for Syria: