As is so often the case in war, testimony stands against testimony. While Ukraine says Russia committed a "deliberate war crime," Moscow counters that Kyiv itself attacked a camp housing Ukrainian prisoners of war. The Kremlin publishes a list of those killed.
A day after the attack on a camp with Ukrainian prisoners of war, Russia's Defense Ministry published a list with the names of 50 dead and 73 injured. The ministry said most of the 193 prisoners of war in Olenivka in the Donetsk region were killed or injured in the attack with a HIMARS multiple rocket launcher. More than 50 deaths had previously been reported. While Russia blames the Ukrainian military, Kyiv insists that Moscow is responsible for the war crimes.
As of Saturday morning, 48 Ukrainian prisoners had been found dead, and two others had died on the way to the hospital, it said. Medical aid is given to the injured. "All political, criminal and moral responsibility for the bloodbath of Ukrainians lies personally with Zelensky, his criminal regime and Washington as a supporter," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyj 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 react immediately," the head of state demanded.
Meanwhile, fighting in Ukraine continues. The General Staff in Kyiv reported a large number of Russian attacks, including in the Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions. The General Staff said the enemy had suffered heavy casualties in the Donetsk region. "170 occupiers" were destroyed within 24 hours. In a recent situation report, the Russian armed forces confirmed that a base in the Kharkov region with "Iskander" rockets had been bombed by Ukrainian nationalists.
In Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry reported numerous strikes against Ukrainian forces, including the destruction of howitzers, drones and other weapons supplied by the West. A "battalion of the Presidential Brigade" was also destroyed on July 28, and more than 140 members of the elite unit died. Around 250 Ukrainian soldiers were also injured in the attack on a base at a train station in Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, it said.
