Survivors of a Russian Armed Forces mass execution of Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol taken prisoners of war, along with their family and friends, have been fighting to establish a day memorializing their sacrifice and the sacrifice of others victimized by these war crimes, set on the date of the Olenivka Prison Massacre.
On the night of July 28-29, 2022, the Russians carried out the most massive execution of prisoners of war (POW) known to us during the full-scale war. Around 50 POWs were killed and about 130 more were injured in Olenivka. These people defended Mariupol from Feb. 24 until May 16, 2022. From May 16 to May 20, 2022, following the orders of Ukraine’s top leadership and under certain agreements, they left Azovstal and surrendered into captivity.
The families of these defenders founded the public organization “Olenivka Community,” which strives to do everything possible to protect prisoners of war and honor the memory of those killed in captivity by the Russians.
On the second anniversary, the organization prepared and provided materials for actions in Olenivka in 22 countries.
In July 2023, our Mariia Alekseyevich initiated a petition to establish a day of mourning and to honor the memory of defenders executed because of the terrorist attack at Colony No. 120 in the village of Olenivka at the state level. This petition received the required number of votes back in September 2023, but we still haven‘t received a response. On the president's website, the petition is marked as “under consideration.”
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Our organization reached out to many members of the Verkhovna Rada, asking for their help in establishing a memorial date and advocating for the issue of war crimes committed by the Russian Armed Forces against prisoners on international platforms.
As a result, a group of legislators, led by Anatolii Ostapenko, authored draft resolution No. 10188 in the Verkhovna Rada. The families in our community worked together with lawmakers on the wording and content of this draft resolution.
On the second anniversary, the servicemembers who survived this execution, our families, and the Media Initiative for Human Rights recorded a video with a request to adopt Resolution No. 10188. On Oct. 24, the resolution was registered as No. 10188. The essence of the proposal is to “consider July 28 a day of mourning and honoring the memory of defenders of Ukraine, members of volunteer formations, and civilians who were executed, tortured, or died in captivity.” The Verkhovna Rada website states that this document was submitted for review on Oct. 30, 2023.
In December 2023, Ostapenko received a letter from the Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, Mykyta Poturaiev, stating that he recommended against adopting the Memorial Day. Poturaiev cited the conclusion of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, which argued that this day would overload the calendar.
On Jan. 9, 2024, on the premises of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, we met with the head of the President’s Office, Andrii Yermak; the head of the Coordination Headquarters, Kyrylo Budanov; Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets; Secretary of the Coordination Staff, Dmytro Usov; the head of the Joint Center of the SSU, Andrii Pasternak; and the Commissioner for the European Court of Human Rights, along with representatives of the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the NGU “Azov” brigade.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the authors’ and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
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