The Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reports that the Russian Federation did not intend to exchange prisoners of the Ukrainian military who defended the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol, therefore deliberately committed the murder of prisoners of war (POWs) in the temporarily occupied Olenivka.

At the moment, some circumstances of what happened in the colony in Olenivka, in which there were Ukrainian prisoners of war, including from the Azov regiment, have already been established, the press service of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine said on Wednesday.

"Interrogations of prisoners were conducted by investigators of the so-called ‘MGB DPR’ together with representatives of the PMC Wagner and the FSB of the Russian Federation. During the interrogations, physical torture and beatings were actively used," the report says.

It clarifies that such events, first of all, were "aimed not at obtaining certain confidential information, but at bullying, physical humiliation, psychological demoralization in order to break the moral and psychological qualities of Ukrainian soldiers."

"In the case of the implementation of this plan, representatives of the FSB planned to attract Ukrainian prisoners to shoot in pro-Russian reports. The purpose of the broadcast was to highlight the prisoners’ admission in "crimes committed by them, atrocities against the local population, the renunciation of fighters from their views, as well as condemnation of the actions of the leadership of Ukraine," the Agency emphasizes.

The agency clarifies that the interrogations were carried out on a regular basis, but were not successful. "The Ukrainian prisoners showed exceptional courage and indestructible willpower," the Ukrainian intelligence officers note.

They add that the Russian side had "no intention of exchanging prisoners of war and, in order to conceal improper conditions of detention and forms of interrogation of Ukrainian servicemen (which could serve as an evidence base in The Hague Court), deliberately killed the prisoners."

"According to available data, the mining of the place of detention of Ukrainian fighters was carried out by the fighters of the Wagner PMC using a flammable substance, which led to the rapid spread of a fire in the room," the Agency said.

On July 28, Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed as a result of deliberate actions of the Russian occupiers on the territory not controlled by Ukraine in the correctional facility in Olenivka. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, about 40 people were killed and 130 were injured.

Ukraine demanded from the UN and the ICRC to immediately respond to the terrorist attack committed by the Russian Federation in Olenivka, as well as to inspect the colony in which the captured Ukrainian servicemen were held.