The investigation is considering several versions of the terrorist attack in the colony in Olenivka, where 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed and more than 70 were injured, but the main version is that a thermobaric charge was detonated, given the consequences. This was stated by Yuriy Belousov, Head of the Department for Combating Crimes in the Context of Armed Conflict of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, during an event dedicated to the anniversary of the terrorist attack in Olenivka: "Olenivka is a place of Russian war crime", reports UNN correspondent.
"There are several versions that, unfortunately, still remain. One of the main versions is that a thermobaric charge was indeed detonated, given the consequences. All the bodies of the soldiers who were returned were examined. We engaged international partners and the appropriate equipment to examine each body. And the version of a thermobaric charge is the main one. The question we are currently addressing is how the explosion was actually carried out. We have interrogated more than 20 soldiers who were in the barracks. 30 prisoners of war who were in other barracks in Olenivka. 10 prisoners of war who were involved in providing medical care," Belousov said.
He added that Ukraine continues to work with international partners to clarify the circumstances of the tragedy.
"Unfortunately, we are still unable to name the names of those involved in this crime, but one of the indicators that the top leadership of the Russian Federation is involved is that Russia has not conducted an independent investigation, which is evidence that this crime is covered up and supported by the top political leadership," Belousov added.
According to him, 9 Ukrainian soldiers died after the explosion, because Russia did not provide them with the necessary medical care.
"The following crime was committed, which led to the death of 9 soldiers who were in Olenivka. For several hours, those soldiers who were seriously injured did not receive medical care directly at the site of the explosion. Not only did they not receive help, but they did not receive it deliberately," Belousov noted.
Recall
An explosion on the night of July 29, 2022, on the territory of the former penal colony in the village of Olenivka in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region destroyed a building where Ukrainian prisoners of war were held.
On July 29, 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were reportedly killed and more than 70 injured in the colony in Olenivka.
On July 7, 2023, Ukraine managed to return the bodies of prisoners of war who died as a result of a terrorist attack in a colony in the occupied village of Olenivka in Donetsk region. Most of the bodies have been identified.
The UN rejected Russian claimsthat Ukrainian prisoners of war killed in Olenivka were killed by a Ukrainian HIMARS strike.
Ombudsman Lubinets calls on the UN to resume the mission to investigate the explosion in the Olenivka colony. Ukraine is ready to provide materials, but the UN has not yet agreed to consider them.