Ukraine shells prison holding POWs, kills 40: Donbass official
Dozens of people were killed after Ukrainian forces attacked a prison containing POWs in Donbass, according to local authorities.
Donetsk People's Republic Deputy Information Minister Daniil Bezsonov tweeted on his Telegram channel that the Ukrainian military shelled a prison housing POWs in Elenovka early Friday morning.
“There was a direct hit at a building with prisoners,” Bezsonov wrote. “The results as of now: 40 killed, 130 wounded.”
The minister went on to say that he believes Kiev employed HIMARS multiple rocket launchers supplied by the US for the attack.
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According to reports, the facility housed Ukrainian fighters seized by Russian and coalition forces during the siege of the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol.
The alleged bombardment occurred as Russian and DPR troops attempted to push Ukrainian troops out of the republic's western territories.
The DPR has repeatedly accused Ukraine of shelling Donetsk and other locations with HIMARS. Authorities stated on Sunday that the Ukrainian military had attacked an oil plant in Donetsk.
Earlier this month, three activists of the Molodaya Respublika organization were killed on July 10, and 11 were injured by the shelling of the Ukrainian armed forces against the Shakhtyorsky district in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), according to DPR head Denis Pushilin.
"This morning, the Ukrainian militants fired at the Shakhtyorsky district, where activists of the Molodaya Respublika were on a volunteer mission. As a result, 11 people were injured, and three were killed. Search work is underway for four people," Pushilin wrote on Telegram.