This was stated by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, according to the Organization's website.
According to Türk, a year after the tragic killing of at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war, justice is still no closer to being served.
“The prisoners of war who were injured or died at Olenivka, and their family members, deserve the truth to be known, and for those responsible for breaches of international law to be held accountable,” said the commissioner.
Türk said his office met with the victims' families and heard "their pleas for truth and justice – and indeed, they have a right to truth, justice and reparations."
The Russian Federation, as UN noted, provided neither satisfactory assurances about secure access for the United Nations to visit the particular site, nor granted general requests by the UN Human Rights Office to access areas of Ukraine under the temporary military control of the Russian Federation. The Office, however, has been able to conduct extensive interviews with survivors of the incident at Olenivka and undertaken detailed analysis of available additional information, in line with OHCHR’s established methodology.
“While the precise circumstances of the incident on the night of 28-29 July 2022 remain unclear, the information available and our analysis enable the Office to conclude that it was not caused by a HIMARS rocket. Based on the information available, it is not possible at this stage to establish either the specific source of the explosion, nor the exact direction from which a weapon may have been fired. The Office will continue to follow up on the incident consistent with its expertise and mandate," the UN website says.
Türk noted that prisoners of war are protected under international humanitarian law and "deaths or serious injury of POWs must be followed up by an official and thorough enquiry on the part of the Detaining Power."
"Any suspicion of criminal conduct must be promptly, thoroughly, independently, impartially and transparently investigated and those responsible prosecuted," the commissioner emphasized.
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the Russian armed forces carried out a targeted artillery attack on a penal colony in the temporarily occupied Olenivka of the Donetsk region, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were also held. This was done in order to accuse Ukraine of committing war crimes and cover up the torture of prisoners.
Later, the Ukrainian intelligence reported that the colony in Olenivka was blown up by the "Wagners" in order to hide the facts of the total embezzlement allocated for the maintenance of prisoners.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba encouraged the UN and the ICRC to visit the colony and identify all the facts of the crime. The UN even created a special group, but in January the Secretary-General of the Organization, Antonio Guterres, dissolved the mission - due to the lack of necessary conditions for its deployment.
Recently, the Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported that it was possible to identify the majority of the bodies of Ukrainian fighters who died as a result of the terrorist attack.