SSU: Identification of seven killed in Olenivka is still ongoing

Head of the 3rd Directorate of the SSU Main Investigation Department Serhiy Shevchenko said this during a panel discussion "A year without punishment. The Path to Justice," an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"SSU is conducting a pre-trial investigation in this criminal proceeding. We are identifying the bodies of the victims that have been returned to us as of today. We have identified 52 of the 59 bodies so far. The work on seven more is ongoing," Shevchenko said.

According to him, more than 200 different examinations have been ordered as part of the investigation, including forensic, biological, explosive, etc. In addition to identifying the direct perpetrators of the crime, investigators must prove the involvement of the top political and military leadership of the Russian Federation. Investigators from both the Main Investigation Department and regional SSU departments, as well as operatives, are involved in the case. And they understand their responsibility to the state.

"We understand that as of today we have not yet achieved the results we expect... But we have to collect high-quality materials in accordance with our national legislation so that in the future all this evidence... will not be questioned," Shevchenko emphasized.

In turn, Noelle Calhoun, Deputy Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), assured of Ukraine's support in its efforts to find justice and establish the truth.

As reported, on the night of July 29, 2022, the Russian Federation committed a terrorist attack by exploding a barracks of the penal colony in Olenivka, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were held. At least 50 Azovstal defenders were killed.