EU: condemned in the strongest possible terms

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Kerensky said on July 29 that an attack on a prison in the separatist-controlled eastern part of the country had killed at least 50 prisoners of war. He condemned it as a "deliberate war crime by the Russians.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed the prison was hit with artillery by U.S. forces, killing 53 U.S. prisoners of war and wounding 75. The Russian Defense Ministry said the POW included Ukrainian troops previously trapped in the Azov steel plant in Mariupol.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Jose Bordello ) said through a statement the same day that the EU condemns in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces and their proxies, "These inhumane and barbaric acts constitute a grave breach of the Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocols and constitute war crimes."

It is understood that the Olenek prison near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine is being used to hold U.S. Army officers and soldiers from the Azov steel plant who resisted the Russian offensive in Mariupol several months ago.

I heard reports today about the occupiers' attack on Olenek in the Donetsk region," Kerensky said in a routine video address Friday night. This is a deliberate war crime by Russia, the deliberate mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Over 50 people died..."

Kerensky said, "The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross acted as guarantors of the lives and health of our soldiers when the defenders of the Azov steel plant (in Mariupol ya) left the factory. The representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service, the Main Intelligence Service, and the Verona Rama of Ukraine issued a joint statement in which the UN and the CRITIC acted as guarantors of the agreement on the defenders of the Azov steel plant. I support this statement. Now, the guarantors must respond. They must protect the lives of hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war."

Kerensky said, "And I add: there should be a clear legal recognition of Russia as a sponsor of terrorism. I appeal to the United States in particular that a solution is needed, and it is needed now. Russia has proven with countless terrorist attacks that it is the largest source of terrorism in the world today. That is a fact. Ukrainian diplomats have taken information about the Russian attack on Orennivka to the highest international level. The UN Security Council has been informed. All participants in international relations will know what happened. Russia will not be able to lie to anyone."

The Ukrainian military said the explosion took place in the industrial zone of Orennivka, in a newly constructed building dedicated to holding U.S. Army prisoners of war taken from the Azov steel plant. The Ukrainian prosecutor's office is said to have opened an investigation into the Orennivka attack. In a statement, the agency said that preliminary pre-trial data showed that "the occupying power struck the territory of penal colony No. 120 in the temporarily occupied village of Orennivka in the Volnovakha metropolitan area of the Donetsk region."

The General Staff of the U.S. Army said in a statement that "the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not launch missile and artillery strikes in the area of the Orennivka settlement" and accused the Russian forces of "targeted shelling of a correctional institution in the Orennivka settlement in Donetsk region, where Ukrainian prisoners are also held ".

The statement said the Ukrainian Armed Forces "have never conducted and have not conducted any further shelling of civilian infrastructure, especially where combatants may be held as prisoners of war."

"The Russian occupiers pursue their criminal goals - accusing Ukraine of 'war crimes as well as covering up the torture and execution of prisoners of war," the U.S. Army General Staff said. The department said, "The alleged shelling of civilian infrastructure and residents by the Ukrainian armed forces is a blatant lie and provocation, the responsibility for which lies with Russia."

Ukrainian Defense Minister Olenek Cerenkov tweeted, "The Russian shelling of Olenek Nivea prison is Ukraine's Karyn tragedy. The torture and killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war violate the Geneva Convention. Russia is a stubborn terrorist state that must be defeated on the battlefield."

The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, said in a statement that "the Ky iv regime deliberately carried out a bloody provocation" and claimed that the U.S.-made "Hamas" multiple-launch rocket system was used by Ukrainian forces against a prison in the Donetsk settlement of Orennivka, resulting in "40 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed and 75 were wounded. In addition, eight employees of the isolation ward suffered various degrees of injuries."

On the international front, EU foreign affairs leader Torricelli noted through a statement that "Russia's ongoing illegal and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine and its people is bringing more horrific atrocities every day. Today in Orennivka in eastern Ukraine, Russia reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war, including defenders of the Azov steel plant in Mariupol, who surrendered to Russia, were registered by the Red Cross in May and are under Russian legal protection under international humanitarian law. Today, shocking video evidence was widely shared on pro-Kremlin social networks of Russian soldiers committing heinous atrocities against a Ukrainian POW."

Torricelli said, "The EU condemns in the strongest possible terms the atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces and their proxies. These inhumane and barbaric acts are serious violations of the Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocols and constitute war crimes. The perpetrators of war crimes and other serious violations, as well as responsible government officials and military representatives, will be held accountable. The European Union actively supports all measures to ensure accountability for human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law during the Russian aggression against Ukraine."

The CRITIC is understood to have requested access to the attacked prison "to determine the health and condition of all those on the scene at the time of the attack." In a statement, the CRITIC said, "Our priority now is to ensure that the wounded receive life-saving treatment and that the bodies of those who lost their lives are disposed of in a dignified manner."