Today, Russia deliberately blew up a pre-trial detention centre in the city of Olenivka, Donetsk region. Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Azov regiment were kept in this isolation ward. That Russia's actions were intentional is proven by the sheer amount of material now being broadcast in the Russian media. And everywhere Russia claims that this shelling was carried out by Ukraine with the help of HIMARS. In reality, the Russians destroyed the pre-trial detention centre in order to hide the traces of torture and war crimes to which Ukrainian prisoners of war were subjected by the Russian occupiers. According to preliminary data, 40 Ukrainians died, someone was burned alive. At least 75 people were injured.
"The armed forces of the Russian Federation carried out a targeted artillery shelling of a correctional institution in the settlement of Olenivka, Donetsk region, where Ukrainian prisoners were also held. In this way, the Russian occupiers pursued their criminal goals - to accuse Ukraine of committing "war crimes", as well as to hide the torture of prisoners and executions, which they carried out there on the orders of the occupation administration and the command of the armed forces of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region. The consequences of the shelling are being clarified. According to the commander of the Missile Forces and Artillery of the Land Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not launch missile and artillery strikes in the area of Olenivka settlement" commented the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The General Staff also stressed that it complies with international humanitarian norms and does not violate the laws of war.
"Missile troops and artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, thanks to the high-precision weapons received from partner countries, deliver extremely accurate strikes only on Russian military objects. The Armed Forces of Ukraine fully adhere to the principles and fulfil the norms of International Humanitarian Law, have never conducted and are not conducting shelling of civilian infrastructure, especially places where fellow prisoners of war are likely to be kept."
Also today, a video appeared on the network where a Russian soldier committed an act of castration over a Ukrainian soldier with a clerical knife. It is known that this is not the only case of atrocities committed by Russian soldiers against Ukrainian prisoners of war. Ukrainian commissioner for human rights Dmytro Lubinets said that this video evidence became the basis for appealing to the UN.
"Today we are preparing reports to the UN Committee against torture, as well as to the European Committee for the prevention of torture," Dmytro Lubinets.
