The investigation into the attack on a camp with Ukrainian prisoners of war is ongoing. Kyiv and Moscow are blaming each other. The first doubts about the Russian representation are raised. Meanwhile, the head of the British secret service MI6 has publicly announced what he thinks of Putin's army. The 157th day of the war at a glance.
Kyiv: Inflicted heavy casualties on enemy
According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian army has come under heavy fire in several cities in southern and eastern Ukraine. 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. Russian forces confirmed that a Ukrainian base in the Kharkiv region was bombed with "Iskander" missiles. According to local authorities, three S-300 rockets fell on a school early in the morning in the city of the same name.
According to the government in Kyiv, dozens of Russian soldiers were killed in the fighting for the Ukrainian city of Cherson. In addition, two Russian ammunition depots were destroyed, the Ukrainian military said. Troops are now even further isolated after the train service to the Russian-controlled city across the Dnipro River was disrupted. Ukraine wants to recapture the strategically important city in the south of the country.
Moscow publishes list of prisoners of war killed
A day after the attack on a camp with Ukrainian prisoners of war, the Russian Defense Ministry published a list with the names of 50 dead and 73 injured. According to the Russian account, the majority of the 193 prisoners of war in Olenivka in the Donetsk region were killed or injured in the attack using a HIMARS multiple rocket launcher. "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. Kyiv, on the other hand, emphasizes that Moscow is responsible for the war crimes. Head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyj announced "retaliation". US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his condolences to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call over the weekend.
First analyzes of images and videos raise doubts about the Russian version. "The available optical material seems to support the Ukrainian account better than the Russian one," wrote the US Institute for War Studies (ISW), without committing itself definitively. One of the doubts about the Russian version is that there are no witnesses to the approach of the alleged Ukrainian missile. Only prisoners and no guards from the so-called Donetsk People's Republic were hit. The damage to the camp and the burn injuries to the victims also indicated a different type of bomb.
Russian embassy provokes with tweet
Shortly after the attack on the prison camp, the Russian embassy in Great Britain caused horror with a statement about fighters from the Ukrainian Azov regiment. The diplomatic mission wrote on Twitter that Azov fighters do not deserve an execution "by a firing squad", but a "humiliating death" by hanging, for example, because they are "not real soldiers". The Ukrainian government reacted with outrage. The tweet should be read by all those who "said that Russia should not be isolated," Kiev Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Twitter. Russia is a "terrorist state" and in the 21st century "only savages and terrorists" can say at the diplomatic level that people deserve to be hanged, Zelenskyy's chief of cabinet, Andryy Yermak, wrote on Telegram.
Many Azov militants are said to have been held in the Olenivka detention center. They surrendered to Russian troops in May after bitter fighting for the Azov steelworks in the port city of Mariupol. The Azov regiment is a former far-right unit that has since been integrated into the Ukrainian army. Russia regards the regiment as a neo-Nazi organization.
MI6 chief scoffs at Russians running out of breath
In view of the massive losses on the part of the Russian army, meanwhile, the head of the British foreign intelligence service MI6 rained down mockery. "You're running out of breath..." Richard Moore tweeted. He quoted a tweet from the British Ministry of Defense from the previous day. "The Kremlin is desperate. Russia has lost tens of thousands of soldiers and is using Soviet-era weapons. Their outdated missiles are killing and injuring innocent Ukrainians," the agency wrote. "Russia will not win this unjustified war."
MI6, otherwise known for its secrecy, has been much more transparent since the beginning of the Russian war, and secret service chief Moore keeps looking for the public. In addition, the British Ministry of Defense publishes the latest secret service findings on the course of the war on a daily basis. London wants to counter statements from Moscow. Former CIA chief David Petraeus also said it was "increasingly likely that Ukrainian forces could recapture most, if not all, of the areas that have been occupied by Russian forces in recent months." A prerequisite for this is further western support for Ukraine "at the current pace," he told the "Bild" newspaper. On the other hand, he considers Russia's military success to be "very unlikely".
750 soldiers in transatlantic military exercise
The British and American forces demonstrated their own military capabilities in a joint military exercise with future NATO member Finland. A total of 750 soldiers took part in the four-day "Vigilant Fox" exercise in the northern European country, including 150 British army and air force members, the Ministry of Defense said in London. The British troops, who are otherwise stationed in NATO member country Estonia, were flown to Niinisalo in western Finland in Chinook helicopters. "Exercise 'Vigilant Fox' has demonstrated the strength and compatibility of our forces with those of US and Finnish allies and reaffirmed our commitment to the defense and security of the Baltic Sea region," said British Secretary of State James Heappey.
Gazprom no longer supplies Latvia
According to the Russian energy company Gazprom, the gas was cut off for another Baltic Sea country: Deliveries to Latvia would be stopped, the company said, referring to "violations of the conditions for gas withdrawal" in a telegram entry. Latvian storage company Conexus Baltic Grid, on the other hand, said other Russian companies are continuing to supply gas. Western states accuse Russia of reducing its energy supplies as an economic weapon in retaliation for Western sanctions over the military operation in Ukraine.
According to Conexus, the Baltic states stopped importing Russian gas on April 1. On Friday, the Latvian gas trader Latvijas Gaze said it had started buying gas from Russia again - but did not name the supplier and emphasized that it had paid for the deliveries in euros in accordance with the EU sanctions against Russia. According to official gas flow data released by Conexus, the gas supply had increased sharply since July 21 - until the flow suddenly dried up on Friday.
Other important articles on the Ukraine war:
You can read all further developments in our live ticker on the Ukraine war.
