UN Investigation Concludes: Russia was Guilty of Deaths of Over 50 Ukrainian POWs in Olenivka 2 Years Ago

Two years ago, an explosion occurred in Russian-occupied Olenivka, where Russia killed more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war and left dozens more seriously wounded in a Russian-built prison barracks. The Associated Press has interviewed survivors, investigators and families of the victims, and an estimated 120 missing persons are still in captivity. All the evidence described, in their opinion, directly points to Russia as the culprit. The journalists also received an internal United Nations analysis that showed the same thing. Nevertheless, Russia accused Ukraine of hitting its own troops with missiles supplied by the United States.

The 100-page analysis was circulated at the highest levels of the UN, but was never intended for full publication. Some of the evidence was incorporated in bits and pieces into wider UN reports on the war, including one that said the missile was flying from east to west. The Russian Federation controls the territory to the east of the prisoners' detention centre. Despite the conclusion of an internal analysis that Russia planned and carried out the attack, the UN has not blamed Russia in public statements.

Of the 193 Ukrainians held in the barracks, less than two dozen have returned home. More than 50 died on the night of 28 July 2022. Around 120 are missing and probably detained somewhere in Russia. Russia has accused Ukraine of hitting its own troops with missiles supplied by the United States.

The UN rejected Russia's claims that it was the Ukrainian government's HIMARS. When former prisoners of war have time to reflect - which is rare, as many have returned to combat - they say that too many things don't add up.

A few days after the deaths in Olenivka, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched an independent mission to investigate. Russia refused to guarantee the mission's security, and its members never travelled to the occupied territory in eastern Donetsk region or to the territory controlled by Ukraine. Five months later, it dissolved.

But when survivors began to return to Ukraine as part of an exchange, a UN field team that had been in the country since 2014 tracked them down.

This team analysed 70 images from open sources, 20 statements by Russian officials, and 16 interviews with survivors on Russian television. They conducted in-depth interviews with 55 released prisoners of war who were in barracks or other locations in Olenivka at the time of the attack. Their conclusion: Russia planned and carried out the attack.

There is no active international investigation into the attack, and the Ukrainian investigation is one of tens of thousands of war crimes for investigators, raising broader questions about whether those who committed crimes in the occupied territories will be brought to justice.

Recently, relatives of the victims of the MH17 downed by Russia marked the 10th anniversary of the tragedy that claimed 298 lives. However, even here, Russia is still abusing the grief of the relatives of the victims of the MH17 plane crash, refusing to acknowledge the truth, take responsibility and apologise. In other words, Russia killed the victims of the flight twice - with a missile and a lie.