The International Committee of the Red Cross has not yet gained access to the place of death of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the occupied Olenivka penal colony, but it is striving to get there, ICRC Director-General Robert Mardini has said, as quoted by Ukrinform.
"A month has passed since the outrageous attack on the Olenivka penal colony. Despite active confidential negotiations, we have not been given access to the victims of the attack, nor do we have the security guarantees necessary to carry out this visit. We are working hard to change this," Mardini said.
According to the ICRC director-general, he knows that people are questioning the role of the Red Cross in Ukraine and considers it necessary to explain what "we can and cannot do as an organization." In particular, Mardini noted that the ICRC cannot force anyone to comply with the provisions of the Third Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War in a particular armed conflict.
"This is the responsibility of the parties, especially in an international armed conflict. Whether they like it or not, the belligerents must comply with the norms they have agreed to. The ICRC, as a humanitarian organization, cannot force governments or military forces to act. We do not have weapons. We are not politicians," the ICRC director-general said.
On 28 July, a powerful explosion occurred on the territory of former penal colony No 120 in the village of Olenivka, which is now used as a detent centre for Ukrainian prisoners of war.
As a result of the explosion, the premises where the captured Ukrainians were kept were destroyed. According to russian sources, about 40 Ukrainians were killed, and the number of wounded is being specified.
The explosions took place on the territory of the industrial zone in a new building, which was supposed to be specially equipped for the detention of prisoners taken out of Azovstal. Some of the detained Ukrainian defenders were transferred to the newly-equipped building two days before the explosion.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the UN and the ICRC to visit the colony in Olenivka and establish all the facts of the crime.