After attack on camps – Moscow publishes list of murdered prisoners

While Russia blames the Ukrainian military, Kiev insists Moscow is responsible for the war crimes. Zelenskyj’s advisor Mikhail Podoljak spoke of a “classic, cynical and very well thought out operation under false flags”.

Ukraine speaks of targeted demolition
The “Ukrainska Pravda” portal quoted alleged Ukrainian military intelligence sources as saying that Russian troops destroyed the building in the camp overnight. While Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke on Twitter of a shelling, Ukrainian secret services spoke of a targeted demolition — allegedly by the Wagner mercenary group. The allegations and information from the two warring parties have not yet been independently verified.

On Saturday morning, 48 Ukrainian prisoners were found dead, and two died on the way to the hospital. Medical assistance is provided to the injured. “All political, criminal and moral responsibility for the massacre of Ukrainians rests personally with Zelensky, his criminal regime and Washington as a supporter,” Russia’s defense ministry said.

Zelenskyj locates intentional war crimes
Head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously described Russia as a “terrorist state” and blamed the country for the crime. It was a “deliberate war crime” for which there would be “retaliation,” he said in his video message that evening. “The United Nations (UN) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which are supposed to guarantee the life and health of our prisoners of war, must respond immediately,” the head of state demanded.

School in Kharkiv hit by rockets
Meanwhile, fighting in Ukraine continued. The general staff in Kiev reported a number of Russian attacks, including in the Kharkov and Mykolayiv oblasts. A civilian was killed and six others injured in the shelling of a residential area in southern Mykolaiv, regional governor Vitaly Kim told Telegram. Three S-300 missiles hit a school in Kharkiv early in the morning.

The General Staff said the enemy had suffered heavy casualties in the Donetsk region. Within 24 hours, “170 occupiers” were destroyed. Russian armed forces confirmed in a situation report on Saturday that Iskander missiles had been used in the Kharkiv region to bomb a base with Ukrainian nationalists.

Ukrainian advance in the south of the country
Ukraine itself reported further advances against Russian troops in the south of the country. With the destruction of a railway bridge over the Dnipro River, Russian occupiers were cut off from rail supplies, the Ukrainian army said. In the Kherson region, Ukrainian troops also killed more than 100 Russian soldiers on Friday and destroyed two ammunition depots and seven tanks.

In recent weeks, Ukraine had already heavily damaged three bridges over the Dnipro with Western weapons to cut off supplies to Russian troops in the city of Kherson on the river’s west bank. In return, Russian troops probably managed to keep traffic across the river with pontoon bridges and a ferry service, according to the British Ministry of Defense. It is also expected that authorities deployed by Russia in the occupied territories of southern Ukraine will prepare referendums on union with Russia before the end of this year.

In Moscow, the Russian Defense Minister reported numerous attacks on Ukrainian troops, including the destruction of howitzers, drones and other weapons supplied by the West. A “battalion of the presidential brigade” had already been destroyed by July 28, and more than 140 members of the elite unit died. About 250 Ukrainian soldiers were injured in the attack on a base at a train station in Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, it said.