Ukraine killed at least 40 Ukrainian POWs when it shelled a prison, Russia-backed separatists claim

At least 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war captured during the fighting for Mariupol have been killed by Ukrainian shelling, Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine said.

Daniil Bezsonov, a spokesman for the Russia-backed separatists in the Donetsk region, said at least 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed and 130 were injured Friday when Ukrainian shelling hit a prison in the town of Olenivka.

Russia’s defense ministry said Ukraine used U.S.-made HIMARS rockets in the strike, according to the Reuters news agency. The ministry put the number of injured at 75, in addition to the 40 killed.

There was no immediate reaction from Ukrainian authorities to the claims.

The Ukrainian troops were taken prisoner after the fierce fighting for Ukraine’s Azov Sea port of Mariupol, where they holed up at the giant Azovstal steel mill for months.

The Azov Regiment and other Ukrainian units defended the steel mill for nearly three months, clinging to its underground maze of tunnels. They surrendered in May under relentless Russian attacks from the ground, sea and air.

Scores of Ukrainian soldiers were then taken to prisons in Russian-controlled areas such as the Donetsk region, a breakaway area in eastern Ukraine that’s run by Russia-backed separatist authorities.