Ukraine wants international inquiry into prison strike that killed dozens of POWs
Emergency workers search for people under the rubble after the Russian shelling in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Photo: Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ukraine is calling for an investigation into the strike that killed at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war and injured dozens of others at a Russian prison camp on Friday, the New York Times reports.
Driving the news: The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that it had formally requested access to the prison in Olenivka, a settlement in the separatist-controlled Donetsk province.
- “Our priority right now is making sure that the wounded receive lifesaving treatment and that the bodies of those who lost their lives are dealt with in a dignified manner,” the agency said.
- Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for the UN secretary general, said Friday that the UN did not have any information on the attack, but it encourages "all the parties on the ground to fully investigate what’s happened," the Guardian reports.
Catch up quick: Russia and Ukraine accused each other Friday of being responsible for the strike.
- Russia said Ukraine carried out the strike using missiles from the United States. Ukraine officials vehemently denied the charge, saying Russia was behind the attack, AP reports.
What they're saying: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack "a deliberate Russian war crime" and "a deliberate mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war," in an address overnight, CNN reports.
- "There should be a clear legal recognition of Russia as a terrorist state. Russia has proven with numerous terrorist attacks that it is the biggest source of terrorism in today's world," he added.
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