UN aims to launch mission investigating the circumstances of the killing of Ukrainian PoWs at the Olenivka prison camp

UKRAINSKA PRAVDA – THURSDAY, 4 AUGUST 2022, 12:53

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, has said that the international organisation wants to launch a mission to establish the circumstances of the killing of Ukrainian PoWs in occupied Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast.

Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Details: According to Guterres, both Ukrainian and Russian officials appealed to the UN to conduct an investigation.

Currently, the terms of reference for the mission are being prepared, which will be agreed upon by both parties.

Background:

• On the morning of 29 July, Russian-aligned propaganda media reported the shelling of a prison camp in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, where Ukrainian prisoners are being held. Russia has claimed that at least 53 prisoners were killed.

• 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 Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ombudsman of Ukraine demand that the UN and the ICRC, which acted as guarantors of the lives and health of Ukrainian soldiers, send their representatives to the prison camp.
• Dmytro Lubinets, the ombudsman of Ukraine, asked the ICRC to organise his visit to the prison camp destroyed by the Russians in occupied Olenivka to inspect the bodies of dead Ukrainian prisoners and communicate with the wounded.
• The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation announced that it had invited UN and ICRC experts to the prison camp at the place of death of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka.
• The families of Ukrainian soldiers are dissatisfied with the activities of international organisations, as they have not received any information about their relatives who have been held as prisoners for several months.

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