Immediately after the attack, Russia claimed that the Ukrainian military fired on the prison with an American Himars missile system. According to the Russians, it was a “bloody provocation” that should prevent Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering. Russia pledged to allow UN and Red Cross observers to investigate the incident, but the Red Cross said that has not happened yet.
But two US government officials told Politico Monday on condition of anonymity that satellite images of the prison before and after the incident show nothing to indicate that. “We know that Ukraine did not attack the site with Himars because the location shows no signs that it would show if it had been hit with Himars,” said one of them. According to Politico, one of the sources categorically ruled out Ukraine’s involvement in the attack, the other declined to draw that conclusion.
In the prison in Olenivka, in the Ukrainian province of Donetsk, hundreds of fighters from the Azoregiment have been held for several days. In the first months of the war, they managed to prevent the Russian army from taking the city of Mariupol for a long time, and they inflicted much damage on the Russians.
Prison shed still intact
Satellite photos of the prison, taken by Maxar Technologies, show that only the building where prisoners were housed was damaged by the explosion. Russia has published images of what are believed to be the debris from the Himars missile, but there is no serial number or manufacturer name on it. Experts also point out that the prison shed is still largely intact, all the beds are in place, and there is no visible bomb crater. In the case of an attack with Himars missiles, it should.
Even if Ukraine is responsible for the attack, it is unlikely to use the expensive Himars missiles for it. Olenivka is only 10 kilometers from the front line, well within range of ordinary artillery guns.
What is also striking is that the at least fifty dead and 75 to 130 wounded are all Ukrainian prisoners of war. Not a single Russian guard was even injured. In addition, the satellite photos from before the explosion already showed a large number of fresh graves on the site, as if they had already been dug beforehand.
Most of the evidence now seems to point to a vacuum bomb, an explosive that Russia has used before in the war in Ukraine, and which serves to kill everyone in an interior space. A vacuum bomb first spreads a gas cloud and then ignites it, creating a fireball and pressure wave. All oxygen then disappears from space, causing all life inside to die. The scorch marks on the inside and outside of the building, among other things, indicate the use of this weapon.