Ukrainian diplomat reacts to cynical calls by Russian diplomats to execute Azov fighters

Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, said this in a Facebook post, commenting on statements by the Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom regarding the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka, Ukrinform reports.

"Read this when they tell you Russia must not be isolated. There is no difference between Russian diplomats calling for execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war and Russian troops doing it in Olenivka. They are all accomplices in these war crimes and must be held accountable. The time has come to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism," the diplomat said.

After the tragedy in Olenivka, Donetsk region, where Russian troops killed a part of Ukrainian prisoners of war, soldiers of the Azov Regiment who defended Mariupol, the Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom published a cynical statement calling for the execution of captured soldiers of the regiment by hanging.

In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a terrorist attack in Olenivka, in which more than 50 captured Ukrainian defenders were killed, was another confirmation that Russia is a terrorist state.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, mercenaries from the Wagner private military company killed Ukrainian prisoners of war in the temporarily occupied town of Olenivka.

On July 28, the upper house of the U.S. Congress unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the U.S. Department of State to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.