Who killed the POWs at Yelenovka? All signs on the ground point to a Ukrainian attack

There is every reason to believe that the July 29 bombing of a detention center holding Ukrainian POWs was carried out on Kiev’s orders

Aug 2, 2022, RT.com

-by Eva K Bartlett

It was extremely difficult to witness the charred and twisted remains of Ukrainian POWs in the Yelenovka detention center at first hand. The stench of death was overwhelming. Bodies remained in the ruins and melted into the metal bunk beds they were on at the time of the bombing.

Other corpses, presumably killed by shrapnel instead of burning to death, lay outside. A soldier was inspecting them, presumably in order to determine the exact cause, and the victims’ identities. Even if the Ukrainian side killed its own soldiers, it was the Russians who took care to identify the remains.

I shared some of the gruesome photos and my thoughts on Twitter immediately after getting back from Yelenovka.

https://twitter.com/EvaKBartlett/status/1553045892109934592

The next morning, I went around Donetsk to document the extremely dangerous “petal” mines Ukraine has dropped on the city. According to DPR Emergency Services, eight civilians had been killed by these mines just the day before. If you step on one of these tiny-but powerful-explosives, chances it will merely tear off a leg instead of outright killing you. And they are insidiously toy-like in appearance, likely to attract children’s attention.

Who benefits from the war crime at Yelenovka? 

Ukraine and Western media, as would be expected, blame Russia for the bombing of Yelenovka detention center, which killed 53 people. Russia and the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), in turn, point the finger at Kiev.

In addition to those killed, the 2am bombing, which DPR officials say was carried out using American-supplied HIMARS, injured at least eight employees and over 70 POWs held there. The prisoners were captured Ukrainian combatants, mainly members of the Azov neo-Nazi militia who’d surrendered in Mariupol in May.

If HIMARS, or High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System, were indeed the source of the destruction and death, then it is almost certain it was Ukraine who bombed the prison, given that Kiev had the coordinates and is the only side in the conflict that possesses such weapons. Even the Pentagon admits it is possible, albeit characterizing the strike as “unintentional.”

From a logical perspective, Russia had no motivation to bomb the prison. For Ukraine, on the other hand, these POWs represented a liability, in that they could testify to the alleged war crimes they committed against Donbass civilians.

Ukraine has made a litany of claims meant to incriminate Russia throughout the current conflict –the Bucha massacre, the strike on the Mariupol maternity hospital, the Ghost of Kiev hoax, the supposed mass graves of civilians, the outlandish false allegations of Russian soldiers committing sexual crimes, which even saw the former Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights fired by Kiev’s own parliament.

Russia has invited the UN and the International Red Cross to investigate the Yelenovka prison bombing. Meanwhile, observers online have used the publicly available data to put together a picture of what occurred. Here’s an insightful analysis from the Rybar Telegram channel (with more than 627,000 followers), specializing in military analytics:

“The eastern part of the building suffered the most damage, where a powerful fire and explosion occurred, which blew out the windows.” Judging by the angle of impact, the analyst concludes that “the shooting was carried out from the trajectory of Marinka-Kurakhovo –the Sergeevka triangle– Pokrovsk-Udachnoe.” This is Ukrainian-controlled territory. The analysis could not conclude whether HIMARS was used, from the information at hand. 

Along the ‘who benefits?’ line of thinking, a number of circumstances also point to Kiev. These have also been pointed out by Russian observers and compiled into a chronology. The captured Azov Nazis were taken to the Yelenovka detention center in late May. While prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and Russia have included Azov fighters, there is a strong opposition to handing them back over to Kiev, meaning that there’s no guarantee that they would be exchanged in the future – potentially making them a liability to Kiev. By June 20 reports of Ukraine shelling the prison already appeared on Russian channels watching the conflict. On July 28 the confession of an Azov member emerged, claiming that neo-Nazis in Kharkov and Kiev had direct orders from Zelensky’s office to torture and murder Russian prisoners of war. Late that night/early next morning, Ukraine struck the very detention center holding the Azov member who confessed, as well as others who might have done so.

Elsewhere, other neo-Nazis in captivity have confessed to deliberately murdering civilians, a PR disaster for Ukraine, made worse were the prisoners in Yelenovka to follow suit.

Last but not least, just two days before the Yelenovka strike, the US Senate passed a resolution urging the State Department to recognize Russia as a “sponsor of terrorism.” By perpetrating an attack and blaming it on Moscow, Kiev could be aiming to push that decision through – even though the State Department is reportedly reluctant.

Given Ukraine’s multiple attempts to incriminate Russia, and eight years of bombing Donbass civilians, killing their own soldiers is not too far-fetched. In fact, surrendered Ukrainian soldiers have claimed their commanders threatened to shoot them if they attempted desertion, and indeed Ukrainian nationalists firing on them when they attempted to surrender, in one case killing or wounding dozens .

It is left to Russian and DPR doctors to preserve the lives of Ukrainian POWs – even those apparently injured by friendly fire. Outside a Donetsk hospital after the Yelenovka bombing, one of the doctors working on wounded Ukrainians said that five had already had successful surgery for their shrapnel wounds, and two more were to undergo operations.

“It doesn’t matter which side you’re on, we will help you,” he said. 

The ghastly scenes of charred flesh and shrapnel-studded bodies I saw at the prison will remain etched in my mind for a long time. Yes, war is ugly, but Ukraine is upping the ante when it comes to both war crimes and hypocrisy.

*Warning: below are extremely graphic images, which I’ve blurred slightly, but still, not for the weak of stomach.*

RELATED LINKS:

–Here’s what I found at the reported ‘mass grave’ near Mariupol

–Western media and politicians prefer to ignore the truth about civilians killed in Donetsk shelling

14 thoughts on “Who killed the POWs at Yelenovka? All signs on the ground point to a Ukrainian attack”

  1. ‘Even the Pentagon admits it is possible, albeit characterizing the strike as “unintentional.”’

    One minute with Google Maps or equivalent will show that the prison compound stands in open fields, some way distant from the nearest houses. And even those are just a small hamlet. There is literally nothing else in the vicinity that could have been the target.

  2. Thank you for the update on media circus called the Ukraine war. I cannot even listen to the radio for the untruths said there. The main stream media in Australia would be truly laughable, if the situation wasn’t so serious. Yes, the petal/ butterfly mines are an insidious toy-like until it blows your leg off. Thank you for sharing the very disturbing photos supplied first-hand for the world to see.
    Thank you as always, Ms Bartlett.

  3. Eva I can’t imagine what kind of spirit you must have to be able to do what you do and have done. Looks like fucking Empire like rust will never sleep. They would only be too happy to put us all to sleep permanently. Admire your passion and adhesion to the truth and not bullshit propaganda. If only Empire had the qualities you possess. The world would turn unfettered by nascent greed. Peace Dear Sister. And much thanks.

  4. Thank you, Eva. It’s heartbreaking but it’s reality. I can’t help but be concerned over the effect these horrible events have on all our human psyches particularly you who has witnessed it firsthand. You and those around you are in our thoughts and meditations. Much love to you.

  5. Thank you Eva for your resolute on the ground journalism. Thank you also for slightly blurring some of those images. I am truly sorry that you had to witness such atrocity.

    I have followed the Donbas conflict for several years and am aware of its history, and Crimea’s wish to rejoin the Russian Federation. If there is one war crime to top them all, it was the USA and Ukraine governments deliberate refusal to engage in the Minsk II Accords, universally approved the UN Security Council.

    I hope that through your local reporting in Donbas you have made some lifelong friends. Your work with Roman Kosarev has been excellent, as has your previous collaborations with Vanessa Beeley. Long may these connections and friendships continue.

    In appreciation,

    YesXorNo

  7. Very tragic. How low has the US leadership sunk to support the Ukrainian government which does this to their own soldiers. When their own soldiers become liabilities of the Ukrainian government and are slaughter like cockroaches. Not to mention was the US leadership a party to the decision to attack the Ukrainian POW’s, to hide the US involvement and possibly being the ones making the decisions to commit them?

    As word of this gets out, my guess is the defense of Ukraine will collapse very rapidly and the US will have few friends. Now how far will the US leadership go to stop this story in its tracks and do all it can to bury it?

    Please stay safe Eva.

  10. If you’re still there, and if it’s still possible, I suggest that you get photos of every piece of shrapnel that the doctors removed from the injured, and suggest to them that the pieces be preserved – and kept SAFE – as undeniable evidence of the weapon used.

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