Citing intelligence, satellite data and wiretapping, officials said the prisoners were killed in a cruel and premeditated war crime. They suggested it was carried out by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group, in close cooperation with Vladimir Putin’s FSB spy agency. The dead Ukrainians were members of the Azov Battalion, which defended the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol until their capture in May. He was being held in a prison in Olenivka, near the front line and about 10 miles south of occupied Donetsk. An adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said many indications point to Moscow’s guilt. They said they dug graves next to the barracks shortly before the attack and launched a Russian information campaign describing the militants as terrorists. The prisoners were moved to the building a day before Friday’s explosion. The Russians repositioned their artillery near the prison compound in an unsuccessful attempt to draw back Ukrainian fire. “It was provocation and mass murder on the Russian side. It was organized by the Putin regime,” claimed the official, who declined to be named. Putin may have personally approved the attack, they speculated, adding: “Russia is not a democratic state. The dictator is personally responsible for everything, be it the downing of MH17, Bucha or Olenivka. We haven’t seen Mr. Putin for quite some time. When will he recognize the atrocities he has committed?’ The Russian Defense Ministry says the Ukrainians destroyed the building using a US-made and supplied Himars long-range missile. Footage broadcast by Russian television on Friday showed charred bodies, dismembered limbs and tangled metal from bunk beds, as well as a hole in the prison’s roof. The Biden administration says there is no indication that Ukraine attacked the site. Satellite images released by Maxar Technologies reveal that the surrounding buildings were completely intact. The Russian guards escaped without injury. A Maxar Technologies satellite image of the Olenivka prison complex after the explosion. Photo: AP The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank, said the evidence strongly suggested Russia caused the blast, using either a “precision strike or an internally planted incendiary or explosive”. He said there were no shell craters in the area. The Kiev official said the Russian Himalayan claim was “stupid” and made no sense, pointing out that the Azov fighters were considered by Ukrainians as national heroes. “This was an act of terrorism sanctioned at the highest level. It was not a tactical decision,” they said. Zelensky called for an independent investigation into what happened. The Kremlin has so far refused to give access to the site to the Red Cross and the UN, which helped negotiate the surrender of the Azovstal defenders and secured guarantees from Moscow that they would be treated appropriately. Ukraine could not confirm the number of casualties, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense at 53 dead and 75 wounded. Names remain confidential. Officials in Kyiv could not say Wednesday where the apparent survivors are now being held. In other developments in the Ukraine war:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russia has no reason to delay the return of a gas turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. “The turbine is working,” he said. It has been blocked in Germany after serving in Canada, in a deadlock that has seen gas flows to Europe reduced to 20% of capacity. The first shipment of more than 26,000 tons of Ukrainian food has cleared customs to proceed to its final destination in Lebanon, the UN said. The Razoni left Odessa on Monday as part of a Black Sea deal agreed by Kyiv and Moscow and brokered by the UN. So far the deal seems to be in place. More than 10 million border crossings into and out of Ukraine have taken place since Russia’s February 24 invasion. Nearly 6.2 million refugees now live across Europe, the UN refugee agency said, with the largest number, 1.25 million, based in neighboring Poland.
