The Olenivka Cover-Up

Day 161 (3 August)

• The Azov PoW in Olenivka were due to be handed back to Ukraine as part of a prisoner swap. The attack on the barracks put a stop to that, and there is evidence that the prisoners were tortured and mutilated before they died in the missile attack on 29 July 2022. Only No. 210 in the Olenivka penal colony was attacked, and the adjacent buildings suffered no damage. The press are calling it the Olenivka massacre, similar to the Katyn massacre during the Second World War.

  

  Ukraine claims that Russia never wanted the prisoner swap to go ahead, and the massacre was used to disguise the torture and execution of the PoW. The only way to do that was to burn the bodies (accidentally on purpose). It is claimed that the Wagner Group (private Russian mercenaries) planted mines in the barracks to cause an explosion and to destroy evidence of war crime and violations of the Geneva Convention.

• Russia has accused the US of directly being involved in the war, alleging that the US have approved targets in intercepted calls for the HIMARs that they have sent to Ukraine. This has not been verified but appears to be Russian propaganda again, claiming that the US is responsible for the civilian deaths in Donetsk.

  

• The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres in a speech on nuclear weapons has claimed that the world is ‘one misunderstanding…away from nuclear annihilation.’ For all his speeches and meetings, he doesn’t seem to be doing much about the situation. Is that why they won’t remove Russia from the UN Security Council which is a farce—how can you have a Security Council member who is supposed to help keep the peace when they are carrying out ‘terrorist acts’ and getting away with it because the UN is too scared to rock the boat. The price paid is thousands of Ukrainians being killed, and millions displaced.

• Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan as an act of solidarity to show that the US will keep to the agreement that they will defend Taiwan if it gets attacked. Her visit has caused some unease, and while she is not the first US representative to have visited Taiwan this year, she is the highest ranking one for 25 years. China has stated that they considered the visit as violating China’s sovereignty, and warned her not to visit the island. In retaliation, China has been carrying out military drills 10 miles from the borders and in the dividing waters, claiming that such drills are necessary.

  

• The OSCE Chairman (Zbigniew Rau) visited Bucha, and a mass grave there. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe were monitoring the activity (war) in Donbas, and were supposed to help assist with the Minsk Protocols. They abandoned their posts when the Russians invaded, and had a good idea that it was going to happen but failed to do anything to warn others. Instead, they evacuated as quickly as possible and failed to take with them/destroy documents that would identify local staff and supporters. Some of these people have now been detained in Donbas. It has taken the OSCE more than 6 months to officially show their faces in Ukraine —they should be ashamed.

  

• The (Razoni) first grain ship that left Ukraine since the blockade was inspected today by Russian and Ukrainian officials, and is now on its way to Triploi, Lebanon.

  

• There is a loophole with the EU sanctions, as Russians cannot fly or enter Europe by train, but they can cross the Finnish border by bus or car with a Schengen visa. Bus services have been fully booked and crossings have increased as Russians seek a way to leave. The Finnish have usually welcomed the Russians who take holidays there, and business is booming for the Finns again. Many countries have stopped issuing Russian visas, but Finland has not so far, and some of the visas last several months and the Russians are using them before they expire.

  

• Apparently, Russia has been trying to conceal movement of ammunition from Crimea to Kherson and used smoke bombs to hide this. However, it accidentally caught fire and set off an explosion. The Russians blew up their own arsenal.

• There are concerns again about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant that is being operated by Ukrainians under Russian orders. The IAEA claims that the plant is out of control and is dangerous and want a team to investigate. This is the largest plant in Europe, and was seized by the Russians in March. Neither Russia or Ukraine appear to have approved any visit from the agency, with Ukraine being concerned that a visit would legitimise the Russian occupation.