AFU commented on killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russians

On the morning of July 29, Russian media announced the shelling of the colony in Olenivka, Donetsk Region, where Ukrainian prisoners are being held. 

Russians accuse the AFU. Russian media claim that “the Ukrainian Armed Forces targeted the barracks where the captured Ukrainian servicemen are held”. RIA Novosti news agency quoted the militants as saying that the death toll had risen to 53, with another 75 wounded.

The Russians write that the AFU struck the colony to kill prisoners who “began to provide testimony”. What exactly the “testimony” was about is unknown.

Sources in the Ukrainian intelligence reported that Russian artillery strikes were recorded in the direction of Olenivka. The attack was from the occupants’ side, according to Ukrainian Pravda.

Another source said that the other day the Ukrainian captives were transferred to an industrial zone, to this very barrack, which was hit on July 29.

“It was a barrack where the fighters of the Azov regiment were located, they were transferred to it a few days before the shelling. We couldn’t then understand why,” the source said.

In the afternoon, an official statement from the General Staff of the AFU appeared.

“The armed forces of the Russian Federation carried out a targeted artillery shelling of a correctional institution in the settlement of Olenivka, Donetsk oblast, 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 oblast.

The consequences of the shelling are being clarified,” the statement says.

According to the commander of the Missile Forces and Artillery of the Land Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the AFU did not launch missile and artillery strikes in the area of Olenivka settlement.

The General Staff states, the missile troops and artillery of the AFU, 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,” the General Staff emphasizes.

Author - Anastasiya Glotova, 29/07/2022