Danil Besonov, a spokesman for Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk region, said at midnight telegram At least forty Ukrainian prisoners of war captured by the Russian army during the Mariupol battles were killed by Ukrainian bombers, and 130 others were injured, Friday, during Ukrainian bombing of a prison in the town of ‘Olenivka’.

In a press release made public minutes later, the Russian Defense Ministry made an allegation that shots from the Himars artillery system supplied to Ukraine by the United States hit the Donetsk regional prison. Where were these Ukrainian soldiers held? The Russian military says forty people were killed and 75 wounded.

“This outrageous provocation is intended to intimidate Ukrainian soldiers and prevent them from surrendering”, writes the ministry. He notes that there was a prison for certain members of the Azov Regiment, which distinguished itself in the defense of the city of Mariupol.

After weeks of siege and protests at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, some 2,500 Ukrainian fighters He surrendered to the Russian army in May. Moscow announced that they would be imprisoned in Olenivka. But the number of inmates currently held in this jail is not disclosed.

Denis Pushilin, the leader of pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, Ukrainian officials told Russian TV channel Rossiïa 24 late in the morning. “He ordered their removal [parmi les prisonniers] who testified” His abuses by Ukrainian forces. Although the death and injury count was said to be ongoing, it put the death toll at 47, while separatist internal security forces put their death toll at 53.

On Friday, Russian public television aired images similar to those of the detention center’s burned-out barracks, without showing the victims. These reports could not be independently verified.