Russian strike kills 16 prisoners in Ukraine, Zelensky slams 'deliberate' attack says Moscow 'must be compelled to stop the killing and make peace'

A Russian strike on Monday (Jul 28) killed at least 16 prisoners and injured dozens of others in what the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called a "deliberate" attack on a facility that housed civilians. Slamming Russia for the airstrike, Zelensky said that the strike on the prison was "not accidental" and that Russia "must be compelled to stop the killing and make peace." He insisted that "it was a deliberate strike, intentional, not accidental" and said that "The Russians could not have been unaware that they were targeting civilians in that facility".

Russia strikes a Ukrainian prison

In an overnight strike on a prison in central Ukraine, Russia killed 16 people and wounded dozens of others. The latest strike comes despite US pressure on Moscow to end the war and as US President Donald Trump issued a new deadline to this end, or face new tough sanctions.

As per Ukrainian head of the military administration Ivan Fedorov, Russia overnight on Sunday (Jul 26) carried out eight strikes on the Zaporizhzhia region, one of which hit the prison. He said that 16 people were killed and 35 others were injured in the attack that destroyed the prison facility and damaged nearby homes.

Meanwhile, Andriy Yermak, a senior aide to Ukraine's president on social media, called for sanctions on Russia and said, "Putin's regime, which also issues threats against the United States through some of its mouthpieces, must face economic and military blows that strip it of the capacity to wage war".

Labelling the Zaporizhzhia attack as further evidence of Russian "war crimes, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that "People held in places of detention do not lose their right to life and protection." Ukraine's air force reported Russia launched 37 drones and two missiles overnight, with its air defences intercepting 32 drones.