Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of bombing a prison that left 40 dead

First modification: 07/29/2022 – 20:39

This Friday, July 29, an attack on a detention center in the Donetsk People’s Republic stirred the waters between Russia and Ukraine, who point to each other as being responsible for an event that left 40 dead and 130 injured.

The prison was inhabited by Ukrainian war detainees, including some members of the Azov battalion.

In the early hours of the morning, pro-Russian representatives of the separatist territory accused kyiv as the perpetrator of the attack on the Olenivka settlement, adding that it was carried out with US-made HIMARS rockets.

According to the Interfax agency, the separatist leader Denis Pushilin explained that the center housed 193 people, among whom there were no foreign militias.

Daniil Bezsonov, deputy minister of information for the separatists, said the Ukrainian goal is “to strike fear into one’s own soldiers so that they don’t surrender.”

“It is a crude provocation to strike fear into the Ukrainian troops and prevent their surrender,” he insisted.

For its part, in Ukraine they affirmed that it is an attack designed by Moscow to falsely incriminate kyiv and endorse war crimes. The General Staff of the Armed Forces also stressed that it was a maneuver to hide the treatment of the captives and cover up executions.

“The armed forces of the Russian Federation carried out an artillery bombardment aimed at a correctional institution where Ukrainian inmates were held,” the Armed Forces described in a statement.

“Such statements about the alleged shelling of civilian infrastructure and the population by the Armed Forces of Ukraine are pure lies and provocations whose responsibility lies with Russia, the aggressor country, the occupier and the sponsor of terrorism,” they attacked.

In the letter they emphasize their respect “for the principles and norms of international humanitarian law.”

In the same current, the kyiv government stated that Russia has committed more than 10,000 possible war crimes, something that Moscow has denied, alleging defamation of its troops.

In addition, the Ukrainian Justice announced the opening of a preliminary investigation into the death of the 40 prisoners, detailed a spokesman as indicated by the portal ‘Ukrinform’.

In videos broadcast by a Russian war correspondent, the charred remains of some of the victims and the building with serious damage, such as the destroyed roof, are seen.

Alleged war crimes on Ukrainian territory are being investigated in coordination by the United States and 40 other countries since July 14. Russia will do the same on its own for those carried out at the hands of the Ukrainian Army.

With Reuters and EFE