DUkraine has once again accused Russia of a war crime. More than 50 people died in an attack on a camp housing Ukrainian prisoners of war on Friday. Kyiv blamed Moscow and spoke of “state terrorism”. Russia, in turn, accused Ukraine of firing a Himar-type multiple rocket launcher at the prison.
“This is further confirmation that Russia is a terrorist state,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday evening in a message on his Telegram channel about the incident. It was a “deliberate war crime” for which there would be “retaliation,” he later said in his video message that evening.
“There is sufficient evidence that this was a planned crime.” More than 50 Ukrainian defense lawyers were cynically murdered. Selenskyj spoke of a “terrorist attack carried out by Russian inhuman monsters in Olenivka”. “The United Nations (UN) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which are supposed to guarantee the life and health of our prisoners of war, must react immediately,” the head of state demanded. He reiterated calls for Russia to be classified as a “terrorist state”. The country is now the “biggest source of terrorism” in the world.
Comparison with Katyn massacre
The UN must solve the crime, the ICRC must take care of the situation of the other prisoners, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. There were many injured. Russia says it has thousands of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Media showed images of a burned-out dormitory with corpses. Bodies covered with tarps lay in front of the building with bullet holes.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov compared the act in Olenivka to the massacre by Soviet soldiers in Katyn, who shot thousands of Polish prisoners there in World War II in 1940 and buried them in mass graves. Russia is a terrorist state that must be defeated on the battlefield, he wrote on Twitter.
Blinken and Lavrov on the phone
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Moscow counterpart Sergey Lavrov have made contact for the first time since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine began. The two chief diplomats spoke on the phone on Friday at the initiative of the US side. US chief diplomat Blinken also addressed the war in the conversation with Lavrov. He clearly told Lavrov that the US would not accept Russian plans to annex more territory from Ukraine. “The world will not recognize annexations. We will impose further significant costs on Russia if it proceeds with its plans,” Blinken said. “And as always, we stand ready to work with Ukraine and others to support any meaningful diplomatic effort to end the war — to end aggression,” Blinken said.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov informed Blinken about the course of the “special military operation” in Ukraine. The Russian chief diplomat stressed that all goals in the country would be achieved. At the same time, he complained that the weapons supplied by the USA and other NATO countries were being used against the peaceful population. This would only prolong the conflict and increase the number of victims.
Negotiations on exchange of detainees
On Friday morning (local time) there was an “open and direct discussion” about an offer to release US basketball player Brittney Griner, who was imprisoned in Russia, and American citizen Paul Whelan, Blinken said in Washington. “I urged the Kremlin to accept the substantive proposal that we (…) made.” As far as the possible exchange of Russian and US prisoners is concerned, the transition to a professional dialogue of “quiet diplomacy” is without Speculations have been suggested, Lavrov said, according to a statement from his ministry.