Russia holds Kiev responsible for east Ukraine jail attack that killed 40

Russian defense ministry says Ukrainian forces attacked a prison in separatist-held territory with US-made HIMARS rockets on Friday, killing 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and leaving 75 others wounded.

Daniil Bezsonov, a spokesman for the Russia-backed separatists in the Donetsk region, said that at least 40 Ukrainian POWs were killed and 75 others were injured when Ukrainian shelling hit a prison in the town of Olenivka.

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

"A missile strike from the US-made multiple launch rocket system (HIMARS) was carried out on 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," the defense ministry said in its daily briefing.

Ukraine attacks Russian forces in south, missiles hit near Kiev

In recent days, Ukraine has intensified its attacks against Russian forces in the south of the war-ravaged country. On Thursday, Russia attacked the suburbs of Kiev for the first time since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, which began in late February.

Fifteen people were injured when missiles hit military installations in Vyshhorod district on the edge of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev regional Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.

Ukraine steps up drive to take south back from Russia with airstrikes

Ukraine has boosted its drive to retake Russian-controlled south with the help of airstrikes.

Air raid sirens blared when President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed parliament alongside visiting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.

"It doesn’t matter with what Russia threatens us; whether it’s air-raid sirens or something else, what is important is that we make other countries fall in love with our Ukrainian firmness," Zelensky said.

More than 10 Russian missiles also hit the city of Chernihiv about 120 km northeast of Kiev, regional Governor Vyacheslav Chausov told Ukrainian TV. Like Kiev, Chernihiv had not been targeted for weeks.

Meanwhile, RIA news agency said Russian security services had uncovered a group of Ukrainian agents in Kherson who had been paid to pass on the map coordinates of Russian forces there to Ukraine for targeting with artillery.

Two people in the southern seaside town of Koblevo were blown up by a sea mine while swimming despite a ban, Mykolaiv regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

UK: Russia may change war tactics in Ukraine

British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said due to the alleged failure of Russia's plans in the Ukraine war, Moscow may change its war tactics.

"The Russians are failing at the moment on the ground in many areas ... Putin's plan A, B, and C has failed and he may look to plan D," Wallace told Sky News television.

The intelligence department of the UK army also claimed in a new update that the Russian militant group "Wagner" has entered the war.

"Since March, the private military company Wagner has been operating in eastern Ukraine in coordination with the Russian military," the statement claimed.

It is likely that the responsibility of certain sections of the frontline was assigned to the Wagner Group in a similar manner to regular army units, it added.

"This is a significant change from the previous employment of the group since 2015, when it typically undertook missions distinct from overt, large-scale regular Russian military activity," the defense ministry said on Twitter.

Hopes for reopening Ukrainian ports amid fighting rages

As the fighting raged, international efforts continued to try to reopen Ukrainian ports and allow exports of grain and other commodities.

Allowing safe passage for grain shipments from Ukraine should ease shortages that have left tens of millions of people around the world facing soaring food prices and hunger.

Russia and Ukraine struck a deal last week to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports, but United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said "crucial" details for the safe passage of vessels were still being worked out.

Griffiths was hopeful the first shipment of grain from a Ukrainian Black Sea port could take place as early as Friday.

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