The Russian army on Friday accused Ukrainian forces of having deliberately bombarded a prison in the Donbass (east) under the control of pro-Russian separatists during the night, killing dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
According to Moscow, this bombardment left 40 dead, while pro-Russian authorities in the Donetsk region, where the prison is located, spoke of a higher toll.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that shots from a Himars artillery system, supplied to Ukraine by the United States, had hit the prison of Olenivka (Elenovka in Russian) at around 30 kilometers southwest of Donetsk, the capital of the separatists in the eponymous region.
In recent weeks, the Himars multiple rocket launchers have proven to be particularly formidable and accurate against Russian army positions.
“This outrageous provocation is intended to scare Ukrainian soldiers and dissuade them from surrendering,” the Russian ministry said.
For his part, the leader of the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk Denis Pushilin told the Russian television channel Rossiïa 24 that the Ukrainian authorities “had given the order to eliminate those (among the prisoners) who testified” to the abuses committed, according to him, by the Ukrainian forces.
He reported a death toll of 47, while the separatist territorial defense forces mentioned 53 dead.
Russian public television broadcast images presented as those of the charred barracks, without showing any victims. AFP could not verify these statements from an independent source.
The ministry specifies that the prison housed in particular members of the Azov regiment, which distinguished itself in the defense of the city of Mariupol against the Russian army and which Moscow accuses of being a neo-Nazi formation.
After long weeks of siege and resistance at the Azovstal steel site in Mariupol, some 2,500 Ukrainian fighters surrendered in May. The Russian authorities had indicated that they would be imprisoned in Olenivka.
The Russian army has not indicated how many people are currently detained in this prison. Denis Pushilin for his part mentioned Friday about 200 prisoners.
Russian and separatist authorities had previously said they were preparing a war crimes trial against Ukrainian soldiers who fought in Mariupol, a port city ravaged by fighting in the wake of the Kremlin offensive.
Russia is accused of indiscriminately bombing the city, killing thousands or even tens of thousands of civilians. Moscow blames the destruction on the Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine denies involvement
The kyiv army denied on Friday having bombed the Donbass prison under the control of Russian separatists where Ukrainian soldiers are, as accused by Moscow.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine, which fully adheres to the principles and norms of international humanitarian law, have never and do not carry out bombings of civilian infrastructure, especially in places where prisoners of war are likely to be detained,” the Ukrainian army said in a statement.
Ukraine accuses Moscow
The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, for his part, accused Russia of being behind this military strike against the prison in question.
“Russia committed another terrifying war crime by bombing a correctional facility in the occupied Olenivka region where it was holding Ukrainian prisoners of war,” Dmytro Kouleba said on Twitter. Moscow and the separatists, who mentioned at least 40 deaths in this strike.