At least 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war died when Ukrainian forces shelled a barracks housing captured soldiers in the occupied eastern city of Olenivka, pro-Russian separatist forces told Interfax news agency on Friday.
“Direct hit on a barracks full of war prisoners,’’ a separatist spokesperson told the news agency.
There was no comment from Kiev. The statement could not be independently verified.
The reports also said about 130 were wounded but added that the number of victims could increase because there were more people buried in the rubble.
Olenivka lies in the territory claimed by the separatist groups.
A spokesperson for those fighters said the city was struck by missiles fired by a HIMARS artillery rocket system, which would have been provided by the U.S. and was known for being precise.
The city was being used to detain Ukrainian troops who were captured during the fall of Mariupol earlier in the year.
Some of those Ukrainian troops had been threatened with the death penalty for alleged war crimes.
According to media reports, conditions in Olenikva’s penitentiaries are inhumane.
Social media accounts were full of photos of the city of Ilovaisk, 40 kilometres east of Olenivka, which sustained explosions overnight.
Pro-Russian separatists had been fighting with Kiev since 2014 for control of a large swathe of the country’s east.
The fight intensified in February, when Russia sent its own troops in, arguing it was necessary to “de-Nazify’’ and disarm Ukraine.
But, according to information tweeted by Britain’s Ministry of Defence on Friday, members of the private Wagner Group militia have been integrated into Russian units.
They were also allocated responsibility for specific sectors of the front line, in a similar manner to normal army units.
The ministry noted that Wagner had typically worked independently of Russian armed forces and added that the move would undermine Russian attempts to insist that there were no links between Russia’s army and private militias.
“Wagner’s role has probably changed because the Russian Ministry of Defence has a major shortage of combat infantry.
“However, Wagner’s forces are highly unlikely to be sufficient to make a significant difference in the trajectory of the war.’’
