Position of Russia and DPR
The night bombardment of Yelenovka was reported on Friday morning at the DPR representative office at the Armistice Joint Control and Coordination Center. According to him, the building of correctional colony number 120 was damaged.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also confirmed the fact of the bombardment. The official representative of the division, Igor Konashenkov, said that the attack on the colony was carried out by HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems and blamed the Ukrainian army for the incident.
“A missile attack from the American HIMARS multiple launch rocket system was carried out at the pretrial detention center in the Yelenovka enclave, which held Ukrainian prisoners of war, including militants of the Azov formation,” Konashenkov said. aforementioned.
Then it reported 40 dead and 75 injured Ukrainians. In addition, eight employees of the isolation ward were injured of varying severity. The Ministry of Defense believes that the shooting was done to intimidate Ukrainian soldiers who wanted to drop weapons at the detention centre.
DPR chief Denis Pushilin also accused the Ukrainian Armed Forces of bombing Yelenovka and described the incident as a provocation.
“Obviously, this is a deliberate bombardment and the desire to destroy these representatives, especially Azov, who is starting to testify,” he said on Channel One.
Soon, the center of the territorial defense of the DPR reported that the death toll had risen to 53 people.
“As a result of the night bombardment of the VFU on the territory of the Volnovakha correctional colony No. 120 in Yelenovka, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were held, 53 people were killed and 75 were injured,” says the report.
The headquarters alleged that the Ukrainian authorities deliberately attacked the pre-trial detention center to “cover up the traces of war crimes committed against the civilian population of Donbass”.
Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the DPR People’s Militia, told reporters that the Ukrainian side knows very well the place where prisoners are held in the pre-trial detention center in Yelenovka.
“After the Ukrainian prisoners of war started talking about their crimes and these orders were received from Kiev, it was decided by the political leadership of Ukraine to shoot here,” he said.
at the Russian Investigative Committee reportedArticle 356 – in which a criminal case is brought for the crime of using prohibited means and methods in an armed conflict.
“According to reports, the Ukrainian side used shells from the American HIMARS multiple launch rocket system to bombard the detention facility where members of the Azov Battalion were held. As a result, several dozen people died, the exact data on the dead and wounded were clarified, ”the message posted on the agency’s website.
In response, Kyiv accused Moscow of bombing, stating that the Ukrainian Armed Forces “did not carry out rocket and artillery attacks on Yelenovka”. The report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine states that the strike was carried out with the aim of “accusing Ukraine of committing ‘war crimes'”.
Source: Gazeta
