Nearly 40 Ukraine prisoners killed in blast, say Russian officials

Russia and Ukraine accused each other Friday of shelling a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine, an attack that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured after the fall of a key southern city in May. Both sides said the assault was premeditated with the aim of covering up atrocities.

 

Russia claimed that Ukraine's military used US-supplied multiple rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk People's Republic.

 

Separatist authorities and Russian officials said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded another 75.

Moscow opened a probe into the attack, sending a team to the site from Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country's main criminal investigation agency.