Fifty Or More Ukrainian POW’s Killed In Missile Strike

Dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war appeared to have been killed when a prison building was destroyed in a missile strike or explosion, with Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of responsibility. The deaths overshadowed a U.N.-brokered deal to restart shipping grain from Ukraine.

Reuters TV showed the remains of a cavernous burned-out building filled with metal beds and bodies. Shell fragments were laid out on a blue metal bench.

Ukraine’s security agencies demanded the United Nations and Red Cross immediately react to the deaths of prisoners of war in a Russian-held jail.

The Russian defense ministry said mercenaries from Russian private military company Wagner Group blew up a pre-trial detention center during the Ukraine-Russia conflict, killing hundreds of civilians and badly wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

A spokesman for the Moscow-backed separatists said Ukraine attacked the prison after the POWs started talking about crimes conducted by the Ukrainian military. Reuters could not immediately verify the differing versions of events.

In a phone call with Blinken, Lavrov said Russia would achieve its goals in Ukraine and that Western arms supplies would only prolong the conflict and multiply casualties.

The Russian-Ukrainian agreement to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports was the first diplomatic breakthrough of the conflict, but fierce fighting made it extremely risky.