July 29, 2022. OTTAWA, ON. On the night of July 28-29, the Russian invaders of Ukraine committed a heinous war crime and act of terrorism on Russian-occupied territory, shelling a prison colony in Olenivka, in which the Russian invaders had imprisoned Ukrainian Prisoners of War – defenders of Ukraine’s Azovstal. It is not yet known how many Ukrainian soldiers were murdered, but preliminary estimates are that 50 Ukrainians died and over 150 were wounded.
“Every day, Russia is committing barbaric atrocities, acts of terror, and monstrous crimes against humanity in its genocidal war against Ukraine. Olenivka joins Bucha, Kremenchuk, Odesa, Mariupol, Kharkiv, and countless other places of mass death and misery inflicted by the Russian invaders,” stated Alexandra Chyczij, National President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC). “Yet our allies still hesitate to provide Ukraine with the weapons necessary to defeat the Russian army and drive the Russian invaders from Ukrainian land. We call upon all allies to call Russia what it is – a terrorist state. The longer we delay in providing all the weapons Ukraine needs for victory, and the longer we delay in recognizing that Russia is a terrorist state – the more innocents will be murdered. We urge Canada and the international community to immediately provide Ukraine the weapons required and to designate Russia a terrorist state.”
A Joint Statement by Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Security Service, Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and the Verkhovna Rada’s Human Rights Commissioner stated, “The committed explosion is a cynical terrorist act of the Russian Federation, a military provocation and a typical false flag operation, the purpose of which is to cover up war crimes, discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine, disrupt the supply of Western weapons and increase social tension in Ukrainian society.”
The full Joint Statement is here:
