Advertisement

Updated July 30th, 2022 at 18:22 IST

Russia blames Zelenskyy, US for premeditated 'carnage' at Yelenovskaya detention facility

“A large number of Ukrainian servicemen are voluntarily laying down arms, and know about humane treatment of prisoners by Russian side,” Moscow's MoD said.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
UKRAINE
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
Advertisement

Russia's Ministry of Defense on July 29 slammed Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's 'criminal' regime and Ukraine's ally the United States for what it described as the 'carnage' against the Ukrainian prisoners of war [PoWs] in Yelenovskaya detention centre located in Elenovka.  Ukrainian prisoners of war. At least 53 Ukrainian fighters held in Russia's captivity in the occupied Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) were killed and 75 others were critically injured after Ukrainian military forces launched the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) supplied by the US on the prison facility. 

73 Ukrainian POWs hospitalized with severe injuries

Russian MoD on Friday blamed Ukraine for the attack, saying that there were an estimated 193 POWs at the facility at the time it was hit by a missile launched from HIMAR. "Most of them were either killed or injured as a result of the strike," Russian MoD said in an update. As many as 73 have been hospitalized with severe injuries, the ministry added. 

Russian Defense Ministry also published a list of the POWs killed in the attack on its official website. DPR head Denis Pushilin labelled the attack as "premeditated" stating that it was to prevent the POWs, and Azov Battalion fighters from giving any testimonies against Ukrainian forces, which could have proven to be damaging for Zelenskyy's regime. Russian MoD also described the attack as a "blatant provocation" in an attempt to what it described as intimidation against their own soldiers who have been on the Russian side. The attack was also a means of terror in order to deter the Ukrainian fighters from surrendering to Russia, and "laying down arms," Russia has alleged. 

“A large number of Ukrainian servicemen are voluntarily laying down their arms, and know about the humane treatment of prisoners by the Russian side,” said Russia's Ministry of Defense in a statement. It made wide ranging claims that the “outrageous" missile strike was conducted on orders of Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

It is to be noted that the Ukraine's ministry of defence had earlier admitted that the US-supplied advanced weapons systems M142 HIMARS were used to strike more than 50 Russian military targets and that it has proven to be the game changer during the ongoing conflict. The HIMARS systems were provided by the Biden administration and similar M270s were supplied by ally Britain to Kyiv as a part of the billion-dollar package of military aid to bolster the precision-strike capability of Ukraine's armed forces.

Advertisement

Published July 30th, 2022 at 18:22 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo