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Russia and Ukraine have both launched criminal investigations after accusing the other of shelling a prison Friday in the separatist eastern region of Donetsk, killing dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Separatist authorities and Russian officials said at least 53 people were killed and 75 injured in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Donetsk People’s Republic. The prisoners were captured after Mariupol fell in May.
The Ukrainian military denied responsibility for rocket or artillery strikes on Olenivka and claimed Russian forces shelled the prison to accuse Ukraine of war crimes to cover up torture and executions that took place there.
Meanwhile, Russia claimed that Ukraine used U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers in the attack on the prison, located in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region. Neither countries’ claim could be independently verified.
►Ukraine has identified 5,600 children who were forcibly deported to Russia. Ukrainian authorities are working on returning these children home, and deputy interior minister Kateryna Pavlichenko said the numbers are expected to rise.
►Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the first grain exports since the war began may begin in the coming days. Several loaded ships weren’t able to set sail since Russia’s attacks started in February. Zelenskyy said the country is “fully prepared” and is awaiting signals from Turkey and the United Nations before sending exports.
►The mayor of Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, said a central part of the northeastern city was hit early Friday, including a two-story building and a higher education institution.
The Justice Department announced Friday that a Russian operative was charged with using political groups in the U.S. to promote pro-Russia propaganda.
Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov is charged with conspiring to have U.S. citizens act as illegal agents of the Russian government. Ionov was also sanctioned by the Treasury Department and is accused of giving money to organizations that he and Russian intelligence services thought would create a political disturbance in the U.S.
According to authorities, Ionov has recruited political groups in Florida, Georgia and California for about a decade and directed such groups to advance pro-Russia talking points. He also paid for group members to attend government-funded conferences in Russia and to attend a protest in the U.
