Russian and Ukrainian authorities traded accusations on Friday over an alleged strike at a prison in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine that Russia says resulted in the deaths of dozens of inmates. CNN could not immediately verify the claims. Brief video clips broadcast on Russian networks and social media in Donetsk show extensive damage to a building and several bodies. CNN analyzed social media videos and footage from pro-Russian broadcasters of the Olenivka strike and was able to geolocate it to an industrial area 3 kilometers (about 1.8 miles) outside the city. Olenivka prison near Donetsk has been used to house many of the Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol several months ago. What Russia says: In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said that “the Kiev regime deliberately carried out a bloody provocation.” “The detention center in the area of the settlement of Yelenovka (Olenivka), containing Ukrainian military prisoners of war, including fighters of the Azov formation, was hit by a missile attack by the US HIMARS multiple missile system.” The Russian Defense Ministry reiterated claims made earlier by authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, a region controlled by separatists in eastern Ukraine. “It was a direct hit on the prisoner barracks. The result so far: 40 dead, 130 wounded. They are still clearing the rubble. The numbers may rise,” said DPR Deputy Information Minister Daniil Beznosov. Telegram channel. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that “this blatant provocation was committed to intimidate Ukrainian soldiers and prevent them from being taken prisoner.” Later on Friday, the deputy head of the DRC militia, Eduard Basurin, said the death toll had risen to 53, with at least 71 wounded. “Right now it is known that 53 are dead and 71 injured. The numbers may change,” Basurin said. The senior duty surgeon at Donetsk City Central Clinical Hospital No. 16, Mikhail Yurenko, said seven survivors brought to his facility for treatment are in critical condition. “Seven prisoners of war of the Ukrainian army with lesions of different localization were delivered by ambulance. All patients received combined surgical treatment,” Yurenko said at a press conference broadcast on social media. “The patients are currently in the intensive care unit.” What Ukraine says: The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces accused Russian forces of carrying out “targeted artillery shelling of a prison facility in Olenivka settlement of Donetsk region, where Ukrainian prisoners were also held.” “The Russian occupiers pursued their criminal goals — to accuse Ukraine of committing ‘war crimes’, as well as to cover up torture of prisoners and executions,” the General Staff said. “Alleged shelling of civilian infrastructure and population by the Armed Forces of Ukraine are clear lies and provocations for which Russia bears responsibility.” The General Staff statement added: “According to the commander of the Missile and Artillery Forces of the Ground Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not launch missile and artillery strikes in the area of Olenivka settlement.” “Missile troops and artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, thanks to the high-precision weapons received from partner countries, carry out extremely accurate strikes only on Russian military objects.” The General Staff said the armed forces “never carried out and are not carrying out bombings of civilian infrastructure, especially places where militants are likely to be held as prisoners”. “Russia has committed another petrified war crime by bombing a prison in occupied Olenivka where it held Ukrainian prisoners. I call on all partners to strongly condemn this brutal violation of international humanitarian law and recognize Russia as a terrorist state,” the Ukrainian minister Foreign Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter. A group working on behalf of Ukrainian soldiers held as prisoners of war posted on Friday that “it is with deep regret that we are forced to confirm the information about the attack on the penal colony in Olenivka, where the soldiers of the “Azov” regiment are located. held as a prisoner’. On its Telegram channel, the group — known as Angels of Azov — said: “We are finding out the names of the dead and injured through our own channels. The International Committee of the Red Cross has also gone to the scene.” The International Committee of the Red Cross, whose representatives have previously visited the detainees, has not commented. Kostan Nechyporenko contributed reporting to this post.
