Russia and Ukraine on Friday accused each other of shelling 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 US-supplied HIMARS multiple-launch rocket launchers in the attack on the prison in Olenovka, in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region. Officials from Russia and separatist authorities in Donetsk said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war and wounded 75.
The spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov described the strike 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 has denied that there were any missile or artillery strikes on Olenivka, insisting that civilian areas are not being shelled and only Russian military targets are being struck.
Ukraine claims a cover-up
He accused Russian forces of deliberately shelling the Olenovka 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 Ukrainian armed forces of shelling civilian infrastructure and the population to cover up their own treasonous actions.”
Neither claim can be independently verified.
Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-backed separatist leader, said there were 193 inmates in the prison. He did not specify how many of them were Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Ukrainian authorities in the Donetsk region said Russia continued shelling civilian targets in Ukrainian-controlled areas.
“The fighting in the region is intensifying every day and civilians should be evacuated while it is still possible,” Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kirilenko said. “The Russian army is not worried about civilian casualties. They are destroying towns and villages in the region.”
Ukrainian troops in Mariupol were captured after fierce fighting for the Ukrainian port on the Sea of Azov, where they were holed up in the giant Azovstal steel plant. Their resistance became a symbol of the Ukrainian struggle against the Russian invasion, which 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 taken to prisons in Russian-controlled areas such as Donetsk region, a breakaway region in eastern Ukraine that is ruled by Russian-backed separatist authorities. Some have returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia, but the families of others have no idea if their loved ones are alive or if they will ever return home.
More shelling in Kharkiv
In other developments, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces shelled the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
Mayor Igor Terekhov said a central part of the northeastern city was hit, including a two-story building and a university. Terekhov said the strike happened shortly after 4 a.m. Friday.
A man looks at a partially destroyed apartment building after an attack in central Kharkiv on Wednesday. (Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images)
“The state emergency service is already working – they are sorting through the rubble, looking for people under it,” Terekhov said in a Telegram update.
Ukraine’s presidential office said at least 13 civilians had been killed and another 36 wounded by Russian shelling over the past 24 hours.
In the southern city of Nikolaev, at least four people were killed and seven others wounded when Russian shelling hit a bus stop.
The press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine released this photo on Thursday, identified as a school building destroyed by a Russian military strike in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Reuters)
“The Russians have changed their tactics due to the successes of Ukrainian forces in the south … they are firing near a bus stop,” Nikolaev Governor Vitaly Kim said.
The Russian barrage also hit a humanitarian aid distribution facility, where three people were wounded, officials said.
Ukrainian officials also said at least four civilians were killed and five others were wounded in the eastern town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, which is at the center of Russia’s offensive in Donbas. More than 30 residential buildings and a kindergarten were damaged.
Ukraine will again transport grain
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Black Sea port of Chernomorsk on Friday, along with his infrastructure minister and a group of G7 diplomats, including the ambassadors to Ukraine from the US, Germany, UK and Canada.
As he stood near a Turkish ship waiting to depart, Zelensky said his country was ready to resume grain supplies for the first time in five months, under an export deal Ukraine reached with Russia a week ago.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talks with Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine Larisa Galada as they visit a Ukrainian seaport in Chernomorsk, near Odessa, on Friday. (Press Office of the President of Ukraine/Reuters)
“We have sent all signals to our partners – the UN and Turkey, and our army guarantees the security situation. The Minister of Infrastructure is in direct contact with Turkey and the UN. We expect them to give the green light. “
Zelensky said that once that happens, he believes the first deliveries could begin today or Saturday.
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