“WAR CRIMES”
Ukraine’s justice ministry said Russian forces hit the prison in Bilenke with four glide bombs. Police said 16 inmates were killed and 43 wounded.
Bricks and debris and blown out windows were strewn on the ground, according to images released by the ministry.
The facility’s perimeter was intact and there was no threat that inmates would escape, it added.
Rescue workers searched for survivors in pictures released by the region’s emergency services.
A senior Ukrainian source said that 274 people were serving sentences in the Bilenkivska facility.
The source added there were no Russian war prisoners at the centre.
Nadiya, a resident of Bilenke, told AFP the attack damaged her house.
“At about ten minutes to six, a neighbour called and said: ‘Come quickly, your roof is gone.’ Is that normal? Not a single window is intact,” the 74-year-old said.
The Ukrainian air force said that Russia also launched 37 drones and two missiles overnight, adding that its air defence systems had downed 32 of the drones.
One attack targeted a hospital in the town of the Kamyanske in the Dnipropetrovsk region, wounding 22 people.
“Putin is rejecting a ceasefire, avoiding a leaders’ meeting, and prolonging the war,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on social media.
“He will only end his terror if we break the spine of his economy,” he added, calling on Western allies to consolidate around sanctions on Moscow.
