The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that the Russians themselves deliberately fired at the Olenivka detention center in the so-called "DPR", where Ukrainian prisoners of war died.
This is stated in the official statement.
According to the General Staff, Russian troops deliberately hit the isolation ward with artillery in order to accuse Ukraine of "war crimes" and to cover up the torture of prisoners and executions. The General Staff is still clarifying the consequences of the shelling.
The commander of the Missile Forces and Artillery of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that the Ukrainian forces did not fire at Olenivka, as they strike exclusively at Russian military facilities.
"The Russian enemy continues its propaganda methods of waging an information war in order to accuse the Armed Forces of Ukraine of shelling civilian infrastructure and the population, thus hiding its own insidious actions. Therefore, such statements about the alleged shelling of civilian infrastructure and the population [...] are outright lies and provocation, for which Russia, the aggressor country, occupier and sponsor of terrorism, is responsible," the statement reads.
The former commander of the "Azov" regiment, Andriy Biletskyi, confirmed that Azov citizens were held in Olenivka. According to him, the Russians moved the regimentʼs soldiers to a separate building, after which they fired at it.
"We are collecting information about the victims and specific perpetrators of this war crime. It is already obvious that this was a pre-planned act of a country for which the concept of officerʼs honor is unknown, and even more so — compliance with the Geneva Conventions, rules, laws and customs of war. Russia could not defeat Azov in a fair fight, so it is trying to destroy us with treachery," he wrote in his Telegram.
He announced a manhunt for everyone involved in the murder.
- On July 29, the Ministry of Defense of Russia announced that 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed and 75 were wounded in the Olenivka pre-trial detention center in the so-called "DPR" at night. The occupiers say that the detention center was allegedly hit by HIMARS, and among the dead were captured "Azov". Later, the Kremlin media reported the death of 53 prisoners.