Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of strike that killed 53 Ukrainian POWs
Local residents search for their belongings amid rubbles of a building damaged in an attack by Russian forces on the city of Toretsk in the Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on July 28. Photo: Abdullah Unver/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Friday of conducting a missile strike that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war, AP reports.
Driving the news: Russia accused Ukraine's military of launching an attack on a prison in Olenivka, a settlement in the Donetsk province controlled by separatists, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were being held.
- Separatist authorities and Russian officials said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded at least 75, per AP.
- Ukrainian officials have said Russia is responsible for the attack. Russian officials accused Ukraine of conducting the strikes using U.S.-supplied rockets, which Ukrainian officials deny.
- "In this way, the Russian occupiers pursued their criminal goals - to accuse Ukraine of committing 'war crimes', as well as to hide the torture of prisoners and executions," the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said, Reuters reports.
- A Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson described the strike as a "bloody provocation" to discourage Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering, AP notes.
The big picture: Ukraine officials have publicly feared that Russia seeks "to destroy the whole Donbas step by step," and officials have battled for control of the remaining territory.
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