Russia claims 40 Ukrainian POWs killed in strike with US HIMARS, Ukraine decries ‘brutal execution’

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Friday claimed that at least 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed after U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) were used by Ukrainian armed forces to strike occupied territory in the Donbas, and hit a Russian detention center.

A Ukrainian defense official denied the claims and told Fox News Digital it was likely a “brutal execution of POWs.”

The official said they have “99 percent certainty that this was a Russian strike.”

RUSSIAN FORCES STALLED WITH AID OF US HIMARS, UKRAINE DEFENSE OFFICIAL SAYS SOLDIERS STILL UNDER GUNNED

Ukraine’s defense ministry is still collecting information on the incident and the official was unable to verify the number of captive Ukrainian soldiers killed or injured in the strike.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed some 75 Ukrainian soldiers were also injured after a missile strike hit “a pre-trial detention center in the area of the settlement of Olenivka, where Ukrainian military prisoners of war, including fighters from the Azov battalion, are being held.”

Russian-backed separatist leader Denis Pushilin reportedly told Interfax that the detention center was located in the frontline town of Olenivka and housed over 190 detainees. 

Check back on this developing story.