After the attack on a POW camp in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian secret services assume a targeted demolition by Russian troops. Dozens of people were said to have died. With the explosion in the city of Olenivka in the Donetsk region, the Russian mercenary group Wagner reportedly wanted to hide traces of embezzlement during construction from an upcoming inspection, Kiev said. The Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow knew nothing about it.
The ministry previously accused Ukraine of shelling the detention camp, which it denies. The Russian-backed separatists, on the other hand, presented alleged US-made Himar missile fragments. According to them, the prisoner’s accommodation was targeted by the Ukrainian armed forces late Thursday night. More than 50 prisoners were killed and more than 100 injured. The information cannot be independently verified.
“Building especially for Azovstal prisoners”
“The explosions took place in a newly constructed building specially prepared for Azovstal prisoners,” Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said in a statement on Friday. Azovstal is the steel factory in Mariupol where the Ukrainian soldiers holed up before giving up and being captured by the Russians.
The domestic secret service SBU also assumed a targeted demolition and presented an allegedly wiretapped phone call from the escape area. “None of the eyewitnesses has heard that a rocket flew into the prison,” the agency said. There was no characteristic whistle. Russian claims that the Ukrainian military fired on the facility are “lies and provocation”.
“Another horrific war crime”
The government in Kiev called on the international community to declare Russia a terrorist state. “The Russians have committed another horrific war crime and shelled the prison in occupied Olenivka, where they are holding Ukrainian prisoners of war,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Friday. All partner states should strongly condemn this “cruel violation of international law”.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, joined the call for a harsh international condemnation of the attack. “This is a cynical and insidious crime that will go down in history as the ‘Olenivka terrorist act’,” Yermak said on Twitter. The Russians don’t care who they kill. “For them, the murder is important and the constant lying to hide the evidence,” said the 50-year-old. In addition, Yermak demanded from the West missiles with a range of 300 kilometers for existing multiple rocket launchers of the American type.
Russian and US foreign ministers spoke to each other
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has spoken directly with his US counterpart Antony Blinken for the first time since the Ukraine war started in February. “We had an open and direct conversation,” Blinken said in Washington on Friday. He told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the world would “never” accept an annexation of Ukrainian territories.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
