Moscow, Kyiv trade blame over prison strike that killed dozens

KYIV • Moscow and Kyiv yesterday accused each other of bombing a jail holding Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian-held territory, with Russia saying 40 prisoners and eight prison staff were killed.

Russia's Defence Ministry said the Ukrainian strikes were carried out with US-supplied long-range missiles, in an "egregious provocation" designed to stop soldiers surrendering.

It said that among the dead were Ukrainian forces that had laid down their arms after repelling Moscow's assault on the sprawling Azovstal steel works in Mariupol.

The ministry said 75 were wounded in the attack on the prison in the front-line town of Olenivka, in a part of Donetsk province held by separatists.

It accused Kyiv of targeting it with US-made Himars rockets, Russian news agencies reported.

Ukraine's armed forces denied carrying out the strike, saying Russian artillery had targeted the prison to hide the mistreatment of those held there and lay the blame on Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia had committed a war crime and he called for international condemnation of the incident.

Video footage released by Russian war correspondent Andrei Rudenko showed Russian-backed military personnel sifting through the burnt-out remains of what he said was the prison.

The smashed roof of the building was hanging down and the charred remains of bodies could be seen.

Reuters journalists at the scene confirmed there had been widespread destruction. The Russian Defence Ministry said the prison housed Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Russian-backed separatist leader Denis Pushilin was quoted as saying there were no foreigners among the 193 detainees.

Ukraine's armed forces general staff said the prison attack was an attempt to shift the blame.

"In this way, the Russian occupiers pursued their criminal goals - to accuse Ukraine of committing 'war crimes', as well as to hide the torture of prisoners and executions," it said.

Meanwhile, an intelligence update from Britain said Russia has ordered mercenaries to hold sections of the front line in Ukraine - a sign it is running short of combat infantry as Kyiv steps up a counter-offensive in the south.

Greater reliance on fighters from the Russian private military company Wagner Group for front-line duties rather than their usual work in special operations would be another sign that Russia's military is under stress.

"This is a significant change from the previous employment of the group since 2015, when it typically undertook missions distinct from overt, large-scale regular Russian military activity," the British Defence Ministry said.

Wagner and the Kremlin were not available for comment.

Officials in Kyiv said on Wednesday they had observed a "massive redeployment" of Russian forces to the south where British defence officials believe Russia's 49th Army, stationed on the west bank of the Dnipro River, is vulnerable.

The incident overshadowed United Nations-backed efforts to restart grain shipments from Ukraine and ease a looming global hunger crisis stemming from the conflict, now in its sixth month.

Ukraine's counter-attacks in the south come as Russia battles for control of the entirety of the industrialised Donbas region in the east.

It has already seized one of the two provinces, Luhansk, and is edging forward in Donetsk, where the prison struck yesterday lies south-west of the provincial capital.

In other action, Ukraine said at least five people had been killed and seven wounded in a Russian missile strike on the south-eastern city of Mykolaiv.

In the eastern Donetsk region, governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said yesterday that Moscow's forces had killed eight and wounded 19 in attacks over the previous day.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS