Human rights organisations call on ICC to investigate the murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka Colony

The Regional Center for Human Rights, along with its partners – the Media Initiative for Human Rights, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, Yahad-In Unum, OSINT FOR UKRAINE and the Olenivka Community – filed a Submission with the International Criminal Court calling for an investigation into the mass murder and torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka.

The colony, which is located outside the town of Olenivka in the occupied part of Donetsk region, detained around 2,500 Mariupol defenders at various times after the defense of Azovstal had ended and the soldiers surrendered.

Witnesses testified that Ukrainian prisoners of war were held in inhumane conditions. They were beaten, deprived of medical care, kept in unsanitary conditions and isolated from the outside world. The restriction of contact with relatives further reinforces the pattern of systematic violations of the Geneva Convention by the Russian Federation.

Human rights activists focused on reconstructing the events of the night of July 28-29, 2022, when two consecutive explosions occurred inside one of the barracks, which caused a fire. The analysis revealed that the explosions appeared to be a deliberate attack by the Russian Federation. Evidence of this is provided by physical traces, eyewitness testimony, and expert opinions. At the time of the tragedy, the colony was under the full control of the Russian occupation forces, which proves the responsibility of the Russian Federation for the events of that night.

The tragedy affected approximately 200 people. The explosion killed at least 45 prisoners of war, and at least nine more died later due to the deliberate failure of the colony administration to provide medical care. About 140 other prisoners of war sustained injuries of varying severity.

Human rights activists have also identified individuals allegedly involved in war crimes against Ukrainian prisoners of war. Among them: 

• Serhiy Yevsiukov, Head of the Colony (allegedly died on December 9, 2024, in occupied Donetsk), and his deputy, Dmytro Neyolov;
• Yuriy Doroshenko, Director of the State Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR);
• Arkadiy Gostev, Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation, along with his deputies, Valeriy Boyariniev and Rustam Stepanenko;
• Kirill Popov, head of the Federal Penitentiary Service group in the so-called DPR;
• Aleksandr Bastrykin, Head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, and his deputy, Konstantin Korpusov;
• Sergey Surovikin, commander of the Southern Grouping of Russian troops in Ukraine in June-September 2022.

All the evidence gathered, including the testimony of victims, the results of expert examinations, photo and video materials, has been submitted to the International Criminal Court. 

We call on the ICC Prosecutor to:

• initiate an investigation as soon as possible into the massacre and torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka, which bear the elements of war crimes under Article 28 and Article 8(2)(a)(i-ii) of the Rome Statute;
• request the Pre-Trial Chamber to issue arrest warrants for the perpetrators in connection with the presence of elements of these war crimes in their actions.

We strongly believe that international justice will demonstrate its integrity and that those responsible for these heinous war crimes will be brought to justice.