Zelenskyy convenes meeting on killing of Ukrainian prisoners in Olenivka: ample evidence that Russia responsible

ALONA MAZURENKO – FRIDAY, 29 JULY 2022, 21:48

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with Ukrainian heads of staff and the Verkhovna Rada Commisioner of Human Rights regarding the terrorist attack in Olenivk which was deliberately staged by Russian occupation forces.

Source: Office of the President

Details: The meeting was attended by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyy, Head of the Ukrainian Intelligence Directorate Kyrylo Budanov, Acting Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Malyuk and the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets.

Each reported to Zelenskyy on the terrorist attack in Olenivka, the motives of the Russian side and the strategic preparation for the crime.

Background: After the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian occupiers in Olenivka, Ukrainian defenders published a joint statement and demanded that the UN and the ICRC, which acted as guarantors of the life and health of Ukrainian fighters, send their representatives to the PoW camp where the killings took place. 

Red Cross representatives submitted a request and will try to reach the shelled colony in Olenivka.

Background:

• On the morning of 29 July, Russian-aligned propaganda media reported the shelling of a penal colony in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, where Ukrainian prisoners are being held. Russia has claimed that at least 53 prisoners were killed.
• The General Staff of Ukraine reported that Russia shelled the penal colony in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, to cover up the torture and murders of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
• The Ukrainian Directorate of Intelligence believes that the killing of Ukrainian prisoners in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, was organised by the Wagner Group [a Russian private military company - ed.] on the personal instructions of Yevgeny Prigozhin, without coordination with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
• The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) later disclosed intercepted telephone conversations in which Russian occupiers confirm that Russian troops were responsible for the explosion in the building where the Ukrainian prisoners were held.

Units of the Azov Regiment have announced a hunt for all those involved in the mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka on 29 July.

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