Mission to Olenivka still possible – UN coordinator in Ukraine

Denise Brown, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ukraine, believes that not all is lost for the mission to the colony in Olenivka, where more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been killed.

Source: Ukrinform

Quote from Brown: "We never got permission from the Russian Federation to go there. Does that mean that all is lost? No. Think of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. We have experts from the IAEA there. So, it's possible."

Previously: The Office of Ukraine’s President stated that on 29 January, 6 months have passed since the murder of at least 53 Ukrainian servicemen in the colony in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, but the International Committee of the Red Cross still has not sent a delegation to the scene of the crime.

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights, also emphasised that the position of the UN is still unclear. After all, at first the Secretary General organised a separate mission to Olenivka. But five months later, the UN mission was disbanded without any criticism of the Russian Federation, which during all this time did not grant access to either the representatives of the mission or the Ukrainian side, and actually disrupted the investigation.

Background:

• On 29 July, Russian-aligned propaganda media announced the shelling of a penal colony in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were being held. They reported that the number of those killed stood at a minimum of 53.
• The General Staff of Ukraine denied Russian allegations that Ukraine was behind the attack.  The General Staff said that Russia shelled the penal colony to cover up the torture and murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
• Ukrainian Intelligence believes that the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka was organised by the Wagner Group [a Russian private military company] on the personal instructions of Yevgeny Prigozhin, without coordination with the leadership of the Russian Defence Ministry.
• Units of the Azov Regiment announced a hunt for all those involved in the mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka on 29 July.
• In October, the International Committee of the Red Cross stated that it cannot "force its way" to the Ukrainian prisoners of war, who are illegally held by the Russian Federation, but "shares the disappointment" of Ukraine.

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