Sviatoslav "Kalyna" Palamar has asked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian parliament to establish 28 July as a Day of Remembrance for Tortured Ukrainian Prisoners of War. Palamar is a former prisoner of war and defender of the Azovstal Steelworks who is currently serving as deputy commander for personnel at Azov, a unit within the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine.

Source: Palamar on Facebook

Quote: "28 July should become a day to honour the memory of those defenders of Ukraine, members of volunteer formations and civilians who were executed, tortured or died in captivity."

Details: Palamar noted that it was on 28 July 2022 that Russia committed one of its most cynical war crimes – the mass execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war at the Olenivka prison camp in Donetsk Oblast.

"At least 53 Ukrainian defenders were killed in Penal Colony No. 120 after they had obeyed orders and laid down their arms, hoping that international law would be upheld with oversight from international organisations. Most of them were defenders of Mariupol, particularly Azov fighters who had endured the hell of Azovstal," he said.

Palamar asked Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian parliament to officially establish 28 July as the Day of Remembrance for Tortured Ukrainian Prisoners of War.

Quote: "It is our moral duty. It is an acknowledgement that even in captivity, our people remained warriors and the state has no right to forget them."

Background:

• On the night of 28-29 July 2022, Russia carried out a terrorist attack by causing an explosion in a barrack at the Olenivka prison camp where Ukrainian prisoners of war were being held. At least 53 Azovstal defenders were killed.
• On 29 July 2022, Ukrainian intelligence stated that the Wagner Group had been behind the killings of the Ukrainian POWs at Olenivka.
• The Security Service of Ukraine intercepted phone calls in which Russian troops confirmed their involvement in the explosion at Olenivka.
• On 25 July 2023, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk criticised Russia for obstructing an independent investigation into the killings. The UN dismissed a Russian claim that a "Ukrainian strike" was behind the incident.
• The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office reported that the explosion had been caused by the use of a thermobaric rocket-propelled grenade.

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