Speech delivered by Gregor Muller, Acting Head of Delegation for the ICRC in Ukraine at a remembrance event in Kyiv, on the second anniversary of the Olenivka tragedy:

Thank you for inviting me on behalf of the ICRC to this commemoration of the second anniversary of the Olenivka tragedy. We are grateful to be here today with you to remember the people who died that day while in captivity – one of the worst days of the last two years and a terrible testimony to the cruelty of war.

We feel the pain of the families of those who died that day and of those who are still missing. We have engaged with them, with many of you who are present here today, over the past two years, to support you in your efforts to find answers about the fate of your missing sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands, and wives.

Through a system set up by the ICRC to allow exchange of information between Ukraine and Russia on those they hold in their respective custody, several thousand families on both sides of the front line have, in the meantime, received confirmation about the status of their loved ones, either by means of an official notification or because of a detention visit or in the form of a letter or a phone call. Some former prisoners of war have also since returned from captivity.

This is an important first step but far from enough, and we will continue to work as hard as we can to help find clarity on the fate and whereabouts of every person who remains missing.

We will also continue our best efforts to gain and maintain access to prisoners of war wherever they may be held. The law of war is crystal clear when it comes to the obligations of parties to the conflict, including that they must give the ICRC access to all prisoners of war they hold, wherever they are being held.

We continue to work as hard as we can to ensure that this happens – but we don’t hold the keys to these detention facilities. We rely on the parties to this armed conflict to respect their obligations so that we, in turn, can do our humanitarian work and bring reassurance to families who have been waiting for news for far too long.

Have we at the ICRC been successful in all our efforts? No, we haven’t. Will we keep trying? Yes, we will. Do we have hope that our access can improve? Yes, we do. By our own means, but also in close cooperation with Ukrainian authorities, some of which are present here today, we will work towards one goal: getting you the answers that you need and are entitled to. We will do so with you and with the relevant authorities, at every level, on every occasion that we get, and we will keep doing so for as long as it takes.

Thank you again.

Learn more: Olenivka penal facility: Prisoners of war and ICRC’s role