Bombing of a prison in Donbas: Ukraine accuses Russia of the attack that killed more than 50 prisoners of war

the Ukrainian army denied Friday that he bombed a prison in the Donbas region (east), controlled by Russian separatists, in which Ukrainian soldiers were detained, as Moscow accuses.

According to the version of the pro-Russian separatists who control the Donbas, the forces of Kiev bombed the prison where there were Ukrainian prisoners of war from Mariupol.

“The night attack resulted 53 dead and 75 wounded“, the staff of the Territorial Defense of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, recognized by the Kremlin before launching the invasion on 24 February last, published on the Telegram platform.

At the beginning there was talk of 40 deaths.

In the five months of the war, the Ukrainian forces were not characterized by this type of objectives, as did the Russian forcesthat indiscriminately bomb civilian targets (theaters, shelters, shopping centers, apartments, houses, railway stations …) and military targets.

Following this logic, Ukraine denied attacking the prison where its own soldiers were being held. And he accused Russia of “another horrendous crime”.

“Russia has made a commitment another terrible war crime bombing a prison facility in the occupied Olenivka region, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were being held, “Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.

“The Ukrainian armed forces, fully adhering to the principles and norms of international humanitarian law, have never carried out and do not carry out bombings of civilian infrastructure, especially in places where prisoners of war are likely to be found,” he said. a declaration.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces they did not make any attacks with missiles or artillery in the Olenivka prison area, “the note reads.

“The Russian occupiers are pursuing their criminal objectives: to accuse Ukraine of committing war crimes and to cover up the torture of prisoners and the executions they carried out there,” the Ukrainian staff said.

the Russian version

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that shots from a Himars artillery systemhanded over to Ukraine by the United States, it struck a prison where Ukrainian soldiers were being held overnight, killing at least 40 people.

The ministry specified that the prison housed, among others, members of the Azov battalion, a division that gained notoriety for its defense of the city of Mariupol against the advance of Russian troops and which Moscow claims is a neo-Nazi formation.

Moscow said the “bloody provocation of the Kiev regime” was intended to dissuade Ukrainian troops from laying down their arms and surrender.

“This heinous provocation was carried out to intimidate the Ukrainian army,” said the Russian defense ministry.

After weeks of siege and resistance at the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol, some 2,500 Ukrainian fighters surrendered in May and Russian authorities indicated that they would be imprisoned in Olenivka.

AFP

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