Explaining complex things in simple words: Action plan for achieving peace, Olenivka anniversary, elimination of Russian mercenaries in Mali

ACTION PLAN FOR ACHIEVING PEACE

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has announced that he will present an action plan to achieve peace by the end of November.

• Ukrainians never sought this war and never started it. Ukraine's efforts are aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace.
• Defence forces and diplomacy are the two main means of overcoming Russian aggression and achieving peace for Ukraine.
• Patience, international support, and pressure on the aggressor are the main factors of a fair end to the war by diplomatic means.
• If the U.S. and European countries remain united, it will show Moscow that it has no chance.
• Ukraine strives to hold the second Peace Summit by the end of this year.

OLENIVKA ANNIVERSARY

On the night of July 29, 2022, the Russian occupiers organized an explosion of a thermobaric charge in the barracks of the penal colony in Olenivka, Donetsk region, where prisoners of war of the Azov brigade were held. More than 50 Ukrainian soldiers died, and more than 130 were injured.

• Two years ago, a planned mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war took place in Olenivka. The Ukrainian investigation has investigated and reconstructed the circumstances of the war crime.
• Russian war criminals tried to shift the responsibility for what they did to Ukraine. Later, they brought the wreckage of the HIMARS anti-aircraft missile to the scene of the tragedy to falsify the cause of death.
• As a target, the Russians chose the participants of the heroic defence of Mariupol, which became a symbol of resistance to aggression.
• Among the prisoners of war, the occupiers deliberately have selected for murder soldiers from the National Guard of Ukraine formation in the Azov brigade, which is the most demonized Ukrainian formation by hostile propaganda.
• The Russians violated not only the provisions of international humanitarian law and their own legislation, but also the agreement under which the Azovstal garrison ceased resistance in exchange for guarantees of life and return through the prisoner exchange procedure.
• Ukraine will never forget this heinous crime and will pursue all those involved in it without a statute of limitations.

ELIMINATION OF RUSSIAN MERCENARIES IN MALI

On July 27, militiamen from the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security, and Development (CSP-PSD) defeated a convoy of Malian junta troops and Russian mercenaries from the Private Military Company Wagner.

• Russia unceremoniously interferes in the internal affairs of African countries, sponsors coups d'état, helps illegitimate regimes to suppress opposition, and plunders the national wealth of African peoples.
• The same Russian militants take part in the intervention in Africa and in the aggression against Ukraine. One of Wagner’s leaders, Anton Yelizarov, organizer of the Bakhmut and Soledar occupations in the Donetsk region, was eliminated during the debacle in Mali.
• Wagner's mercenaries are no better than international terrorists and jihadists. In July 2023, the OSCE recognized Wagner as a terrorist organization. The U.S., Lithuania, and the United Kingdom adopted similar resolutions.
• Ukraine made the biggest contribution to the liquidation of the Wagner militants. Over 20,000 Russian fighters were killed in the six- month battle for Bakhmut.