Head of Olenivka colony, where Ukrainian POWs were killed, dies in car explosion

An explosion occurred in the center of temporarily occupied Donetsk on Monday morning, December 9. A car with people exploded in the city.

The Russian Telegram channel "Mash" reported that.

According to Russian media, an SUV with two people inside exploded on Universytetska Street.

The Russians maintain that the car belonged to Sergey Yevsyukov, the head of the Olenivka colony of the DPR, who passed away.

His wife got hurt, too – her leg got ripped off, and she's in the hospital in critical condition.

The Russians are alleging that a plastid was planted beneath the bottom of Yevsyukov's Toyota Land Cruiser, equivalent to 100 grams of TNT.

Sergey Yevsyukov is the former head of a colony in the village of Olenivka, an occupied territory of the Donetsk region controlled by the so-called "DPR."

His activities came into the spotlight due to the mass killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the colony on July 29, 2022, when an explosion killed at least 50 prisoners and injured about 150 others.

The Ukrainian side is accusing Yevsyukov and his deputy Dmitriy Neyolov of mistreating prisoners and neglecting to give them medical treatment following the explosion.

Both officials are also being accused of violating international humanitarian law, specifically under the article on the mistreatment of prisoners of war, which encompasses intentional murder. The Security Service of Ukraine has informed them of their suspicion regarding these crimes.

For reference:

On the morning of July 29, 2022, Russian media announced that a colony in Olenivka, located in the Donetsk region, had been bombarded. Sources claimed that a minimum of 53 people had been killed in the attack, many of whom were Ukrainian prisoners.

The General Staff of Ukraine has refuted the Russian allegations that Ukraine's armed forces were responsible for the attack. They claim that the Russians are attempting to conceal the torture and murder of prisoners.

According to intelligence reports, the assassination of Ukrainian prisoners in Olenivka, located in the Donetsk region, was orchestrated by mercenaries from the Wagner Private Military Company on orders from Yevgeny Prigozhin. This was done without coordinating with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The Ukrainian Security Service intercepted phone conversations where the invaders admitted that it was Russian troops who caused the explosion at the occupied Olenivka colony, resulting in the deaths of at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners.

As reported by Rubryka, on July 31, the Red Cross reported that the Russian side did not give access to the Organization's representatives to the colony in occupied Olenivka, where approximately 40 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 130 were injured.

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

After the terrorist attack in the Olenivka colony, where at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war died, the Russian Federation did not allow UN representatives to the scene of the tragedy.

In July 2023, Ukraine was able to return the bodies of the fallen defenders. As the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, noted, most bodies have already been identified.