Ukraine authorities announce find of arms linked to 2014 protest

Ukrainian investigators said Saturday they had found a cache of 24 guns implicated in a bloody crackdown on pro-EU demonstrators in February 2014 that led to the downfall of the country's pro-Russian leader. The cache comprised dismantled parts from 23 Kalashnikov assault rifles and a high-precision rifle that had been assigned to a now-dissolved special police anti-riot unit called the Berkut, they said. The SBU security service and the public prosecutor told reporters that the guns had been found buried at a site on the outskirts of Kiev after they had been immersed in a nearby lake and their serial numbers removed. The weapons had been assigned to Berkut personnel who had been deployed in Kiev's Maidan Square on February 20, 2014, when about 50 demonstrators were killed, officials said. However, further tests will be needed to confirm if they were actually used, said Sergi Gorbatyuk, in charge of an investigative panel at the prosecutor's office. The late February crackdown was a climactic moment in the revolt against then-president Viktor Yanukovych, who had sparked anger by rejecting a proposed association agreement with the European Union and instead aligning himself with the Kremlin. More than a hundred people were killed in the violence. On February 22, 2014, the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove Yanukovych, who fled to Russia. The pro-Western government that then took office vowed to shed light on who ordered and carried out the shootings. Berkut agents have long been accused of shooting demonstrators, and the unit has been dissolved. However, the probe is still ongoing and no one has been prosecuted -- a lack of progress that has stoked criticism both at home and abroad. An Amnesty International representative in Ukraine, Tetyana Mazur, said the arms discovery was important "but not enough" and cautioned "it will be very difficult for investigators" to prove the weapons were used against the protesters.