WAR IN UKRAINE
Azov soldiers return to the front for Ukraine after prison explosion
Lemko and Maslo were almost killed in a blast at the Olenivka camp — but are back fighting for Ukraine
Lemko, left, and Maslo survived an explosion at the Olenivka camp last year that killed more than 50 of their fellow prisoners
MARC BENNETTS FOR THE TIMES
The Ukrainian prisoners of war had just begun to drift off to sleep after another day at a brutal Russian detention camp when an explosion tore through their crowded barracks, killing and injuring dozens as they slept.
“The sudden heat and the screaming woke me up,” a soldier who goes by the call sign of Lemko said. “A friend was lying on the floor. I checked his pulse, but there was nothing. We began dragging survivors out of the fire. I had injuries and burns all over my body and I’d lost a lot of blood. I started to lose consciousness.”
At least 50 Ukrainian prisoners were killed last year when a suspected Russian incendiary device exploded in a barracks at the Olenivka camp near
