Ukraine demands that the International Committee of the Red Cross immediately send a delegation to the Russian prisoner of war camp in Olenivka, in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.
Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, posted the call for a mission on the administration’s website.
“At the end of July, as a result of the terrorist bombardment by the Russian occupiers, more than 50 defenders of Ukraine were killed” in the camp, Yermak told the Red Cross, according to the public message.
CNN recently investigated the bombing of the camp.
The Russian Defense Ministry said a Ukrainian HIMARS rocket attack was responsible for the attack. CNN’s investigation, based on analysis of videos and photographs from the scene, satellite images from before and after the attack, and the work of forensic and weapons experts, concluded that the Russian version of events was most likely fabricated. .
After the attack, the Russian Defense Ministry said it was ready for the Red Cross to visit the camp. But despite repeated requests from the organization, a visit was never arranged.
Yermak said that the conditions in which Ukrainian prisoners are held and what they face in places of detention in the Russian Federation and in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine “is extremely important.”
“Therefore, I ask that the Red Cross mission with representatives of the international media arrive in Ukraine no later than three days, even if it does not receive confirmation from Russia by this time. And we are sure that Russia is not interested in the truth being known.”
It is unclear how a mission to Olenivka could be carried out without Russia’s consent, as the detention center is in Russian-occupied territory.
