By Euronews
Published on
•Updated
At least 17 inmates were killed and more than 80 were wounded after a Russian airstrike hit a Ukrainian prison in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday.
The attack, which came late Monday, hit the Bilenkivska Correctional Facility with four guided aerial bombs, according to the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine.
At least 42 inmates sustained serious injuries. One prison staff member was also among the injured.
Governor of Zaporizhzhia region Ivan Fedorov said that the building’s facilities were destroyed in the strike, which also damaged nearby residential buildings.
The head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak denounced the strike as a “war crime”.
In a post on X, Yermak wrote that Russia “won’t stop unless they are stopped.” He called for “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s regime” to “face economic and military blows that strip it of the capacity to wage war.”
The attack came shortly after US President Donald Trump said on Monday he was to reduce a 50-day deadline he previously set for Russia to agree to a truce in Ukraine to “10 or 12 days”.
Earlier this month, Trump said he would give Russia 50 days to reach a peace deal or face “severe” economic sanctions.
Trump expressed disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he said was continuing strikes against Ukraine despite US efforts to broker a ceasefire deal.
“I’m going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number because I think I already know the answer what’s going to happen,” Trump said on Monday.
Meanwhile, air raid alerts were announced in the regions of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Cherkasy and Kirovohrad.
A missile strike on the city of Kamianske in the Dnipropetrovsk region killed two people and injured five — including a pregnant woman — the city’s governor Serhiy Lysak said.
He added: “A three-storey non-operational building has been partially destroyed. Nearby there are damaged medical centres: a maternity hospital and a department of the city hospital.”
According to the AFU Air Force, overnight on Tuesday, Russia attacked Ukraine with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 37 Shahed-type attack UAVs and imitation drones of various types. Air defence forces shot down or suppressed 32 UAVs, hit five drones and two missiles in three locations, with debris striking in two places.
