The war in Eastern Europe: President Volodymyr Zelensky tonight (between Friday and Saturday) condemned a Russian attack on a prison that killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war in occupied Donetsk. In his speech last night, the Ukrainian president said that more than 50 died in the attack on Olnivka, calling it “a Russian war crime, a deliberate mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war.”
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According to Zelensky, the captured fighters – which also included members of the Azov Battalion, which defended the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol – should have been protected by guarantees provided by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Russia denied the accusations, blaming the Ukrainian forces for the incident.
In response, the Red Cross stated that it requested access to determine the health and condition of the prison inmates at the time of the attack. “Our priority right now is to make sure that the injured receive life-saving treatment and that the bodies of those who lost their lives are treated with dignity,” the statement said.
At the same time, the authorities appointed by Moscow in the territories occupied in southern Ukraine plan to hold a referendum on joining Russia later this year, according to British intelligence.
“It is likely that local authorities are forcing the population to reveal personal details in order to create voting records,” the UK noted. At this time, Russia classifies these occupied areas under “military-civilian administration”.
At the same time, British intelligence reported that Ukraine apparently repelled small-scale Russian attacks on the front line near Donetsk, in the eastern Donbas region. While in the Kherson region, Russia apparently built two pontoon bridges and a ferry system to compensate for bridges damaged nearby recently.