Ukrainian POWs possibility murdered by Russian Thermobaric Munition at Olenivka POW camp

Notice: This is not the usual Ukraine Daily Summary. Rather it’s a translation of the reference to an article in today’s Ukraine Daily Summary which was not in English. This seems an important article which I’ve not yet seen in other commercial media. This is the original reference to today’s Ukraine Daily Summary:

Deutsche Welle: Heavy flamethrower system may be responsible for explosion at Olenivka POW camp. In a comment to DW, the Prosecutor General’s Office said that, based on open-source information, Russia likely used a thermobaric munition at Olenivka. Over 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in the Olenivka prison camp on July 28.

A charge from a flamethrower could explode in Olenivka - prosecutor’s office

Stepan Smishlyaev Liliya Rzheutska

29.08.2022 August 29, 2022

Note: This is a translation from this article at Deutsche Welle

A month after the explosion in the colony in Olenivka, there is currently no information about the investigation by the UN or the Red Cross. Meanwhile, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine says that ammunition from a flamethrower probably exploded in the colony.

The source of the explosion in the colony in occupied Olenivka in Donetsk region, which killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners, was probably a thermobaric munition. “Namely - a capsule with a combustible mixture of a thermobaric explosion of flamethrowers of the BHMEL, HMEL-M, RYS type,” the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (OGPU) reported in response to DW’s request.

The investigation reached this conclusion based on the results of the analysis of freely available video recordings, with the participation of specialists on the use of radiation, chemical and biological defense units and units, identification of ammunition and the use of engineering units and units. “At the same time, in the criminal proceedings, a comprehensive forensic examination of the weapon and the traces and circumstances of its use, as well as explosive and fire-technical examinations, is underway,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said.

Pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings under part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war combined with intentional murder) is carried out by investigators of the Main Investigative Department of the Security Service of Ukraine under the supervision of prosecutors of the OGPU.

Death of prisoners in Olenivka

On July 29, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) announced that the Russian army had attacked the colony in Olenivka. Part of the Ukrainian servicemen taken captive from the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol were held there. As a result of the attack, more than 50 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, and more than 70 were injured . At the same time, not a single worker of the colony, “DPR” fighter or Russian soldier was injured.

The “DPR” accused the Ukrainian side of the shelling, which allegedly hit the prison with American HIMARS multiple rocket systems. However, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stated that there are no traces that the attack was carried out by this particular system .

The main intelligence department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that the explosion on the territory of the colony was carried out by fighters of the private military company “Wagner” without the consent of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andriy Kostin, said that the preliminary conclusions of international experts involved by the Ukrainian side indicate that the prisoners died as a result of the use of thermobaric weapons by the Russians.

Read also: Representative of the ICRC: We were the guarantor of the safe exit of the military from Azovstal, but no more

There is still no information about the visit of the UN and the Red Cross to Olenivka

Ukraine appealed to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as guarantors of the agreements regarding the defenders of “Azovstal” who were held in Olenivka. The arrangements stipulated that their lives would be spared and later exchanged. The UN and the Red Cross have expressed readiness to investigate the mass killing of prisoners. On the night of July 31, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that it had officially invited experts from both organizations to investigate the strike .

On August 3, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that the organization is preparing a group of experts to investigate the death of prisoners in Olenivka. General Carlos dos Santos Cruz from Brazil was appointed head of the mission. “The mission will try to establish the facts of the incident and report on it to the Secretary-General after completing its work,” the UN statement on the creation of the mission, published on August 22, said. There is no information that UN or ICRC representatives gained access to the colony in Olenivka.

Translated from article at: https://www.dw.com/uk/ofis-genprokurora-v-olenivci-mogli-zastosuvati-boepripas-vid-vognemetu/a-62964191