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UN finishes formation of fact-finding mission into Yelenovka prison attack

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday appointed two members of the three-member mission

UNITED NATIONS, August 22. /TASS/. The United Nations has finished the formation of a fact-finding mission into an attack on a prison in Yelenovka, UN Secretary General’s Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

According to the spokesman, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday appointed two members of the three-member mission. They are Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir of Iceland and Issoufou Yacouba of Niger. Ingibjorg Solrun was Iceland’s foreign minister in 2007-2009, then worked in OSCE structures. In 2021-2022, she was deputy United Nations Secretary General’s special envy for Iraq. Issoufou Yacouba worked in Niger’s police, was a deputy governor, and commanded UN police force in Burundi and Mali.

Earlier, Carlos dos Santos Cruz of Brazil was appointed head of the mission.

However, Dujarric refrained from saying when the mission will be seconded to Yelenovka. In his words, efforts are being taken to get security guarantees for the mission members.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said earlier that on July 29 Ukrainian troops delivered a strike from US HIMARS multiple rocket launch systems at a detention ward in Yelenovka. The ministry said later that Russia invited experts from the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to conduct an unbiassed investigation.

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