The Prosecutor General's Office has authorized the Investigations Directorate of the National Police's Main Department in Odesa region to re-investigate all the criminal cases related to fire and riots in Odesa on May 2, 2014, MP Oleksiy Honcharenko wrote on his Facebook account.

"Two years after the best investigators of special cases haven't identified a single suspect, haven't determined a chain of events during the fire, haven't provided any answers to the most crucial questions. There are only rumors, guesses, and anti-Ukrainian speculations. It is a complete failure. Now this high profile case is taken on by Odesa police. New people will study the materials, probe into circumstances, examine witnesses, establish perpetrators, dig deep into evidence – now, when two years after the events have passed," Honcharenko wrote.

According to him, the transfer of the case from the Interior Ministry's Main Investigations Department to the regional police will be seen as a mocking reaction to the criticism of Ukraine's law enforcement agencies expressed by the Council of Europe in it report on the investigation in the Odesa tragic events.

As reported, the International Advisory Panel concluded that the investigation into the Odesa May 2 events had failed to achieve considerable progress. The Panel listed a number of obstacles to the authorities' investigation into the circumstances of the crimes and identification of the perpetrators.

As reported, 48 people were killed and over 200 were injured during civil riots in Odesa on May 2, 2014. Most of the victims were killed in a fire that broke out at the House of Trade Unions. The investigators established that the mass riots in Odesa had been organized and pre-planned.

A number of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have opened around 10 criminal proceedings on various counts of the Odesa May 2 events. In particular, the Interior Ministry's Main Department in Odesa region opened a few cases based on the reports of injuries and deaths of people during clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists. Later these cases were passed on to the Ministry's Main Investigations Department in Odesa region. Some of them have already been brought to court.

Besides, the Prosecutor's Office of Odesa region and the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office are investigating actions of officials employed with the Main Department of Ukraine's Interior Ministry in Odesa region and the Main Department of Ukraine's State Emergency Situations Service in Odesa region during the events of May 2, 2014.

One more pre-trial investigation in the relevant criminal case is conducted by Ukraine's Security Service in Odesa region.

What is more, as of today, there are at least four court investigations into suspects of the Odesa May 2 crimes.

Furthermore, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada and Odesa Regional Council have initiated separate investigations of the Odesa tragedy.

The Rada's investigation team concluded that it was a result of law enforcers' inaction, while Odesa Regional Council terminated its enquiry and disbanded a group of Council deputies in charge of it on grounds of the Council's failure to obtain necessary information from law enforcement agencies.

Additionally, another enquiry is being carried out by the May 2 Group that includes journalists, activists, and a number of experts. For the time being, this is the only team that has made public the most complete and detailed information on the Odesa May 2 events, as well as their causes.

In November 2015, the International Advisory Panel, probing the violent events in Odesa, published its report concluding that the investigation by Ukrainian authorities was inefficient.