Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine accused each other Friday of bombing a prison in a separatist eastern region that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured after the fall of Mariupol in May.
Russia said Ukraine used multiple US-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers in the attack on Olenivka prison in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region. Russian officials and separatist authorities in Donetsk said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war and wounded 75.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov described the attack as a “bloody provocation” aimed at dissuading Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering. He said eight prison guards were also injured in the shelling.
The Ukrainian military denied any rocket or artillery attack on Olenivka, insisting it was not shelling civilian areas and was only targeting Russian military targets.
He accused Russian forces of deliberately bombing Olenivka prison to accuse Ukraine of war crimes and also to cover up torture and executions there.
The statement denounced the Russian claims as part of an “information war to accuse the Ukrainian armed forces of bombing civilian infrastructure and the population to cover up their own treacherous action.”
Neither claim could be independently verified.
Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-backed separatist leader, said the prison holds 193 inmates. He did not specify how many of them were Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Ukrainian authorities in the Donetsk region said Russia has continued its shelling of civilian targets in areas controlled by Ukraine.
“The fighting in the region has intensified every day, and civilians must evacuate while it is still possible,” said Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. “The Russian military doesn’t care about civilian casualties. They are hitting cities and towns in the region.”
Ukrainian troops in Mariupol were taken prisoner after heavy fighting for the Ukrainian port on the Sea of Azov, where they had been hiding in the Azovstal steel factory. Their resistance has become a symbol of Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion that began on February 24.
The Azov Regiment and other Ukrainian units defended the steel mill for nearly three months, clinging to its underground maze of tunnels. More than 2,400 surrendered in May under relentless Russian attacks from land, sea and air.
Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers were transferred to prisons in Russian-controlled areas such as the Donetsk region, a breakaway area in eastern Ukraine that is run by Russian-backed separatist authorities. Some have returned to Ukraine as part of prisoner exchanges with Russia, but the families of others have no idea if their loved ones are alive or if they will ever return home.
In other developments:
— Ukrainian officials said Russian forces shelled the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
The city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said a central part of the northeastern city was affected, including a two-story building and a higher education institution. Terekhov said the strike occurred shortly after 4 a.m. Friday.
“The State Emergency Service is already working: they are fixing the debris, looking for people under them,” Terekhov said in a Telegram update.
— Ukraine’s presidential office said at least 13 civilians were killed and another 36 wounded in Russian shelling over the past 24 hours.
In the southern city of Mykolaiv, at least four people were killed and seven others were injured when a Russian shelling hit a bus stop.
“The Russians have changed their tactics because of the successes of the Ukrainian forces in the south. … They have a bus stop nearby,” Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim said.
The Russian shelling also hit a humanitarian aid distribution facility, where three people were injured, the officials said.
Ukrainian officials also said at least four civilians were killed and five others wounded in the eastern city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, which is the focus of the Russian offensive in Donbas. More than 30 residential buildings and a kindergarten were damaged.
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