SVD
The first of major casualties occurred on the Day of Unity of Ukraine, 22 January 2014. Four people permanently lost their vision, and one man died by falling from a colonnade. The circumstances of his death are unclear. At least five more people were confirmed dead during the clashes on 22 January, four people perished from gunshot wounds. Medics confirmed bullet wounds to be from firearms such as a Dragunov sniper rifle (7.62mm) and possibly a Makarov handgun (9mm) in the deaths of Nihoyan and Zhyznevskyi. There are photos of Berkut utilising shotguns (such as the RPC Fort), and reporters verified the presence of shotgun casings littering the ground. Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office confirmed two deaths from gunshot wounds in Kyiv protests. "We are pursuing several lines of inquiry into these murders, including [that they may have been committed] by Berkut (special police unit) officers, Vitali Sakal, first deputy chief of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's Main Investigative Directorate told a press conference in Kyiv on Friday...It was established that the weapons and cartridges that were used to commit these killings are hunting cartridges. Such is the conclusion of forensic experts. Most likely, it was a smoothbore firearm. I want to stress that the cartridges which were used to commit the murders were not used by, and are not in use of, the police. They have no such cartridges," said first deputy chief of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's Main Investigative Directorate. The MVS has not ruled out that Berkut officers committed the killings.