UN rejects Russia's lies about "Ukrainian strike" on prisoners of war in Olenivka

On Tuesday, Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, criticised Russia for obstructing an independent investigation into the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Olenivka prison in Donetsk Oblast a year ago.

Source: a statement by Türk, shared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Details: Türk stressed that Russia did not provide sufficient assurances of safe access to the site of the tragedy and did not respond to the Office's requests for access to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Quote: "While the precise circumstances of the incident on the night of 28-29 July 2022 remain unclear, the information available and our analysis enable the Office to conclude that it was not caused by a HIMARS rocket."

More details: He added that the available information does not let investigators establish either the specific source of the explosion or the exact direction from which the colony could have been hit.

Quote: "Prisoners of war are protected under international humanitarian law. Deaths or serious injury of POWs must be followed up by an official and thorough enquiry on the part of the Detaining Power."

Background: On 29 July 2022, Russian media reported that there had been an attack on a prison in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, where Ukrainian prisoners of war had been held. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the Russians were trying to hide the tortures and murders of prisoners by this attack.

In August 2022, the United Nations set up a commission to investigate the deaths of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the colony in occupied Olenivka. It was disbanded five months later after Russia failed to provide security guarantees for the commission's representatives.

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