A year after the tragedy in Olenivka, where at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed by shelling of the colony, the UN admitted that the explosions were not caused by HIMARS missiles.
This was stated by the head of the UN Office for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
The agency never gained access to Olenivka in Donetsk region, temporarily occupied by the Russians, so the exact circumstances of the tragedy are still unknown. However, the UN representatives conducted "numerous interviews with those who survived the incident in Olenivka" and collected the available information.
Thanks to this, the Office concluded that "the incident was not caused by a HIMARS missile."
- On the night of July 29, 2022, explosions rang out in the colony in the occupied city of Olenivka, Donetsk region, where the Russians held Ukrainian prisoners of war from Azovstal. The Russians said that it was the Armed Forces of Ukraine that was hit with HIMARS. However, the General Staff of Ukraine stated that the pre-trial detention center was fired upon by the Russians themselves in order to accuse Ukraine of "war crimes" and to cover up the torture of prisoners and executions. More than 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed, and 130 were injured in the shelling. Previously, the Russians struck with a thermobaric weapon.
- On January 5, 2023, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decided to disband the mission, as the UN representatives were unable to get to Olenivka. This was criticized by Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, calling the position of the UN "mediator-neutral".