Russia invites UN, Red Cross to investigate killing prisoners

Russia's Defence Ministry has invited the United Nations and the International Red Cross to investigate the prison, where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed this week.

The prison where the attack occurred lies on territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists east of Ukraine.

“Russia has officially invited UN experts and the International Red Cross to engage in an impartial investigation into the attack on the detention centre in Oenivka, where a large number of Ukrainian prisoners of war” were killed, the Russian Defence Ministry said through a statement published on July 31st.

Before this statement by the Ministry of Defence, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said this organisation would send investigators to the prison in the town of Olenivka, where the attack took place after Russia and Ukraine were hired for that.

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the attack, which Russian authorities and pro-Russian separatists in the Donjeck region said left 53 prisoners killed and injured 75 others. On July 30th, the Russian Defence Ministry published a list of 48 names of Ukrainian fighters between the ages of 20 and 62 who were killed in the attack.

Russia claims that prisoners of war were killed by a Ukrainian missile attack the United States has donated.

The Ukrainian Army denies these claims and accuses Russians in the Donjeck region of attacking the prison and, as they have said by Kiev, the attack has been carried out to conceal Ukrainian torture and executions in this prison.