In Zaporizhzhia, relatives and friends of Ukrainian prisoners of war – participants in the defense of “Azovstal” – came to the city center for an action in support of them. According to the correspondent of Radio Svoboda, the participants of the event appealed “to the international community to facilitate the immediate return of the entire Mariupol military garrison” to the territory under the control of the Ukrainian authorities, or “to carry out the procedure of extraction to a third country.” The participants of the action brought posters with relevant appeals.
Also, on the square where the action took place, the organizers installed an installation that reproduces footage filmed by the mass media at the place of detention of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka after the events of June 29.
“On June 29, all the families of the defenders of Azovstal woke up, and their day became even blacker. On the 29th, they brazenly killed our relatives, we still don’t know who survived and who died. We could not stand aside, we gathered in initiative groups in the cities of Ukraine to urge people not to forget our relatives, to remember them and their heroic feat. We appeal to international organizations, our international partners, who were the guarantors of the safety not only of our relatives, but also of all prisoners of war. That is, the Geneva Convention was invented not three months ago,” says Yaryna, the organizer of the action in Zaporizhzhia, a beloved fighter of the “Azov” regiment.
The participants of the action also stated that they speak with “condemnation of the inaction of organizations, namely the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations, which are guarantors of the safety of our prisoners of war, which led to the death of Ukrainian defenders.”
“The Red Cross did not call me personally and the parents of my beloved, and we do not know what happened to him. According to the information I have from the Information Center, the Coordination Bureau, he is in Olenivka,” shares the organizer of the action Yaryna.
Relatives of other Ukrainian prisoners of war faced a similar situation.
“We – relatives – do not know anything, no one informs us. It is very painful not to know if your loved one is alive. We are asking the world to simply react and help. I had contact with my boyfriend right before the exit. He did not tell me about the exit. Said that everything is fine with him, that he is alive, that he loves me, that we should wait for him. There were no further contacts. According to conventions, there is a norm that you can call twice a week, but no one has ever called me. The Red Cross did not contact me either. No Ukrainian structures were informed either. We are waiting. Only the part that left Azovstal informed. I only know the date and what is in Olenivka,” says the lover of another “Azov resident” named Maria.
Earlier, on July 31, a similar action with appeals to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross with the demand to visit the colony in Olenivka, Donetsk region, in order to find out the situation with Ukrainian prisoners of war, took place in Lviv.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross has still not received permission to access the colony in occupied Olenivka. Despite the fact that on July 31, Moscow announced an official invitation to UN experts and the International Committee of the Red Cross to investigate the “strike” on the Olenivka colony. The Ukrainian authorities demanded the involvement of representatives of international organizations.
On the night of July 29, one of the barracks of the correctional colony in the village of Olenivka in Donetsk region was destroyed. At least 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were held there died. Militants supported by the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that the cause of the destruction was alleged shelling by Ukrainian forces. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine emphasized that the Ukrainian military did not fire artillery or rockets at Olenivka and blamed the Russian military.
