Thousands in Ukraine honor fallen soldiers, urge government to release prisoners

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainians are urging their government to do more to get Russia To release the prisoners of war, they expressed their anger on Sunday at a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of Explosion kills more than 50 people.

Several thousand soldiers and civilians gathered in Kyiv’s Independence Square on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of the explosion that killed more than 50 Ukrainians held by Russia in the Olenivka prison barracks.

Enthusiastic speakers at the ceremony urged the Ukrainian government to do more to secure the release of the soldiers in a prisoner exchange.

The Olenivka explosion was one of the most painful pages of the war, according to many soldiers.

“I was there in Olenivka. The explosion shook me. I have never felt such helplessness before. And those who are still in captivity feel this helplessness every day. They should know that we did everything we could to free them,” said Sergeant Kirillo Masalitin, who was later released.

Behind Masalitin, more than 300 soldiers from the Azov Brigade stood in formation. They recited a prayer in unison before holding red rockets aloft in honor of their comrades.

Russia claimed the Olenivka explosion was caused by Ukrainian forces firing a rocket that hit the prison barracks. But mounting evidence suggests Russian forces set off the blast, according to an Associated Press investigation.

The Associated Press interviewed more than a dozen people with direct knowledge of the attack, including survivors, investigators and families of those killed and missing. All described evidence they believe points directly to Russia as the culprit. The AP also obtained an internal U.N. analysis that reached the same conclusion. Despite the internal analysis’s conclusion that Russia planned and executed the attack, the U.N. has refrained from publicly blaming Russia.

Two years after the explosion, many Ukrainians still want to know exactly how it happened. Sunday’s demonstration brought together people commemorating Olenivka with others protesting Russia’s imprisonment of Ukrainian fighters who defended the Azovstal steel plant and were captured when Russia took the city of Mariupol.

Many have also pushed for the release of Ukrainian soldiers who defended the Avovstal steel plant and were captured when Mariupol fell in 2022. The Russians are holding at least 900 Azov Brigade soldiers as prisoners of war. The “Free Azov” campaign has become a vocal lobbying group in Kyiv, holding weekly protests to urge President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government to conduct a prisoner swap to free Ukrainian prisoners held by Russia.

“We are here to remember those who died and those who were captured. We are here to push our government to work seriously on this issue,” said a soldier who identified himself as Stanislav.

He said he was a defender of Mariupol when the Russians invaded in February 2022 and was wounded in an artillery attack, losing his left arm. He received treatment at the military base inside the Azovstal steel plant before being captured and then released by Russian forces. After physical rehabilitation, Stanislav returned to the army and now works at the military headquarters in Kyiv.

He said he would continue to press for the release of the captured soldiers.

“We are here for a special reason, which is to witness the return of our brothers in arms, the prisoners, all these prisoners,” he said.

The event, held in central Kyiv, attracted many families, including mothers, wives and children of soldiers killed in Olenivka or who are currently in Russian prisons.

Halina Stavishchuk, 71, said in a voice cracking with emotion that her son was being held by the Russians and she had not heard from him for more than two years.

“I cry every day. I just pray for a message from him that he is okay and that he will be home soon,” Stavishuk said. “We trust that God and our government will bring all of our soldiers back.”