UN analysis finds Russia responsible for 2022 Olenivka prison explosion killing Ukrainian POWs, ombudsman says
A United Nations (UN) internal analysis has found Russia responsible for a 2022 explosion at Olenivka prison, which killed over 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on June 30.
"(A)n internal analysis of the UN showed that it was the Russian Federation that planned and carried out the attack," he said in a post to social media.
Russia has denied responsibility, prevented efforts by the international community to independently investigate the attack, and contaminated evidence at the site, according to a report published by the UN.
Kyiv has said that days before the July 2022 attack, Russia deliberately put Ukrainian members of the Azov Regiment, who were awaiting a prisoner exchange, in a separate part of the Olenivka prison building that was later destroyed in the explosion.
“The report identifies the weapons and ammunition that the Russian Armed Forces used to kill Ukrainian prisoners of war, and also examines in detail the planning, organization, and execution of the murder,” Lubinets said.
The ombudsman noted that the UN fact-finding mission on Olenivka was disbanded due to a lack of security guarantees, adding that the mission has previously refused to review evidence provided by Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly violated international conventions protecting the rights of POWs as it continues to carry out its war against Ukraine.
A Russian military court has convicted 184 Ukrainian POWs captured in Kursk Oblast of acts of terrorism, Mediazona reported on June 25.
The POWs captured in Kursk were charged with carrying out a grave terrorist act by a group of individuals, as outlined by the Russian Criminal Code.
Junior Lieutenant Yevhen Hoch was convicted of allegedly carrying out an act of terrorism by taking part in Ukraine’s Kursk Oblast incursion.
The Kyiv IndependentYuliia Taradiuk