Ukraine calls for UN probe into POW killings in Olenivka – ombudsman

During the second anniversary of the terrorist attack in Olenivka, Verkhovna Rada's Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, urged the United Nations to resume the investigation into the murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Lubinets announced this on his Facebook page.

According to Lubinets, the mass killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka is a manifestation of the weakness of the Russian invaders and their fear even of "unarmed Ukrainian defenders."

"Unfortunately, the insufficient reaction of international organizations and world leaders shows their weakness as well," he emphasized.

The Ombudsman emphasized that the dead had the official status of prisoners of war and were verified by the International Committee of the Red Cross. They were also subject to the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Immediately after the explosion, Russia accused Ukraine of shelling, which was allegedly carried out using HIMARS.

Lubinets reminded that Ukraine appealed to the UN and the ICRC as guarantors of the agreements regarding the defenders of "Azovstal" who were held in Olenivka.

"The agreements stipulated that their lives would be spared and later exchanged. Both organizations expressed their readiness to investigate the mass murder of prisoners," Lubinets noted

On August 3, 2022, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that the organization is preparing a group of experts to investigate the death of prisoners in Olenivka. Five months later, he disbanded the mission to establish the facts of the attack on the colony in Olenivka due to the lack of security guarantees.

According to the Ombudsman, Russia has not granted access to Olenivka to Ukraine or international organizations.

In his opinion, another factor that could probably be the reason for the dissolution of the mission is that "out of the three foreigners who are part of it, in fact all are under the influence of Russia."

Lubinets observed that he had made numerous attempts to meet with the UN mission members and had expressed his willingness to personally provide them with materials regarding the prison explosion in Ukraine. However, they consistently refused to review them.

He also offered the Russian Commissioner for Human Rights to jointly visit the scene of the tragedy, which was refused.

On July 25, 2023, the UN made a statement that the terrorist attack in Olenivka "was not caused by a HIMARS missile." That is, it refutes the propaganda statements of the Russian side.

Lubinets emphasized that at international meetings he repeatedly raised and now continues to raise the topic of the terrorist attack and the importance of its investigation.

"Ukraine demands that the UN mission resume its work as soon as possible or that a new mission be created to thoroughly investigate the terrorist attack in Olenivka," the human rights commissioner said.

According to him, the crime in Olenivka still goes unpunished and anyone involved in the terrorist attack should bear the strictest responsibility. Ukraine is doing everything to make this happen as soon as possible.

"I call on the UN and the ICRC to fulfill their mandate and investigate the terrorist attack. This crime has no statute of limitations and it will not be possible to "cover" it! The terrible pain of the loss of our heroes will never subside. Bright memory and eternal glory! We will not forget and will never forgive!" Lubinets declared.

For reference:

On the night of July 29, 2022, Russia committed a terrorist attack, setting off an explosion in the barracks of the penal colony in Olenivka, Donetsk region, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were held. At least 50 defenders of Azovstal were killed then.

In total, Ukraine managed to return 23 soldiers who were in the blown-up barracks. One of them – 30-year-old combat medic of "Azov" Ostap Shved – testified about the circumstances of the most mass killing of Ukrainian defenders in Russian captivity.

As reported, in two years of the full-scale war, after the terrorist attack in Olenivska colony, where at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed, the Russian Federation did not allow UN representatives to the scene of the tragedy.

The intelligence agencies believe that the killing of Ukrainian prisoners in Olenivka in Donetsk region was organized by the mercenaries of the "Wagner" PMC on the personal instructions of Yevgeny Prigozhin, without coordinating it with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

In addition, Ukraine's Security Service intercepted telephone conversations in which the invaders confirm that Russian troops were responsible for the explosion in the occupied Olenivka colony, which killed at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners.

Meanwhile, new satellite images of the colony before and after the killing of the Ukrainian military have been published, which show that the building was blown up from the inside.