Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
A Russian air strike against a prison in southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast late on July 28 killed 17 convicts and injured 42 more, Ukraine’s State Criminal-Executive Service said.
Seriously wounded victims were hospitalized, and the rest are being provided medical attention in the prison’s medical unit. Close to 40 other people suffered injuries of varying severity, including at least one staff member, the authorities said.
Moscow’s forces struck the Zaporizhzhia district eight times with FAB bombs overnight, destroying prison buildings and damaging nearby houses, Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
The prison facility in Bilenke, a village around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Zaporizhzhia, was hit at 11:28 p.m. on July 28, according to the State Criminal-Executive Service.
“The perimeter of the institution was not damaged; there is no threat of escape,” the service said.
Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets denounced the attack as a “gross violation of international humanitarian law and yet another proof of Russia’s war crimes.”
“People held in places of detention do not lose their right to life and protection,” Lubinets said on Telegram.
As of spring, Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating over 150,000 suspected war crimes committed by Russia during its all-out war.
Russia has occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast since the onset of its full-scale invasion in 2022, subjecting the rest of its territories to daily aerial and artillery attacks.
‘We assessed your attempt’ — top Ukrainian drone commander hints Russia tried to strike multiple unit leaders at once
“We assessed your attempt yesterday to hit all of us at once,” Brovdi said in the Telegram post, without offering further details. The post ended with a string of insults aimed at the Russian forces behind the alleged attack.
