Lieutenant Colonel in the National Guard of Ukraine and Commander of the 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov", Hero of Ukraine, Denys Prokopenko, reacts to the killing of Serhii Yevsyukov, the head of the notorious Olenivka prison - a collaborator with the ruzzian occupying forces and in the atrocities at Olenivka.
"Should you shout "Glory to Ukraine" for one more time, and I'll call in the troops and crush you all into the asphalt! There is no such country as Ukraine!"
Those were the last words I had heard from that scum. Every single one of them came back to him in a form of TNT equivalent.
The search for and punishment of those criminals who cannot be held accountable through international tribunals is a crucial task for the Ukrainian state and its security services. History provides numerous examples of torturers and murderers who did not succeed in hiding and enjoying a peaceful old age. This is what states that have dignity and put the lives of their citizens first do.
The enemy must feel constantly threatened not only on the frontline, but also in the rear. Those responsible for the torture and murder of our prisoners of war, those who give and carry out orders to destroy peaceful Ukrainian cities, the perpetrators and those in charge of the demonstrative execution of Azov soldiers in Olenivka must remember that none of their crimes will go unpunished. They have nowhere to run, and today they have seen it for themselves.
We will never forgive the cowardly murder of 53 of our brothers-in-arms in Olenivka—men whom the enemy could not defeat on the battlefield, and all they could do was to blow up unarmed people in their sleep.
We need to be prepared for the fact that punishing all those involved in war crimes is a complex and challenging process that may take a long time. Retribution will not be instantaneous. However, it is inevitable.
The torturers will experience permanent tension, anxiety and fear. A year, two years or ten years will pass. But they will inevitably have to answer for their crimes. An ordinary Monday morning and a routine commute to work will turn out to be the last.
