NU.nl regularly gives you an overview of the situation in Ukraine. This time: Ukraine says it has evidence for the involvement of pro-Russian separatists in the bloody attack on a prison in the Donetsk region. Dozens of people were said to have been killed. The separatists claim that Kyiv is behind the attack.
Ukraine says it has evidence that Russia attacked the detention center in Olenivka, just south of the city of Donetsk. According to the Ukrainian defense ministry, the paramilitary Wagner group was behind the attack.
The pro-Russian group allegedly failed to coordinate the attack with the Russian government. The ministry claims to have telephone conversations that show that Russian fighters carried out the attack.
According to Kyiv, about 40 people were killed in the attack, mainly prisoners of war from the infamous Azov battalion. That group has defended the heavily harassed port city of Mariupol to the bitter end.
About 130 prisoners are also said to have been injured. The numbers of dead and injured cannot be determined with certainty at the moment.
Pro-Russian rebels in the Donetsk region claim that Ukraine fired on the detention center itself, but Kyiv vehemently denies this. The separatists claim that HIMARS missiles landed on the prison. Those are missiles that the West supplies to Ukraine.
US and Russia discuss prisoner swap
On Friday, a senior diplomatic meeting between the foreign ministers of the United States and Russia took place. US Secretary Antony Blinken spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov about a possible prisoner exchange between the two countries. It is the first time since the start of the war in February that the two ministers spoke to each other.
Blinken asked Lavrov for the release of American basketball player Brittney Griner and ex-Marine Paul Whelan. Griner was arrested in February for drug possession, while Whelan was convicted of espionage. In exchange for the release of these two Americans, Washington is willing to release convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
The ministers also spoke about the war in Ukraine. Blinken made it clear to his Russian counterpart that the world will never accept the Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory. He also urged Lavrov to comply with the grain agreement that Russia and Ukraine concluded with the United Nations and Turkey.
Battle for Donets Basin continues
Meanwhile, the Russian offensive in the east continues. The Russian army has set itself the goal of taking the entire Donets Basin.
CNN reports that Ukraine was able to repel several Russian storms in the Donetsk region on Friday. According to the Ukrainian army, the Russians try again and again, but without success.
According to the Ukrainians, the attacks in the Donetsk region continue, but the Russian army is not making any progress. The battle for the Donets Basin does not seem over for the time being.
Reports also came in on Friday of a Russian attack on a bus stop in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. At least five people were said to have died. Another seven people were injured.
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