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On May 9, the head of the Wagner PMC, Evgeny Prigozhin claimed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) struck at the building where the previously captured Ukrainian servicemen were held. The attack was reportedly carried out with the US-made HIMARS MLRS.
Earlier, Prigozhin claimed that Wagner fighters stopped taking prisoners during the battle for Bakhmut. However, there were still a certain number of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) who were treated by Wagner forces and were subject to exchange.
Message from Evgeny Prigozhin:
After the Wagner PMC stopped taking prisoners of the AFU fighters, we still had a certain number of prisoners who were subject to exchange, prisoners were treated, fed, and so on. HIMARR has just struck at this facility. We will figure out how many prisoners died. In an hour and a half, Alexander Simonov (Russian military reporter) will post on his Telegram channel the result of the strike at the place of detention of prisoners.
They destroy themselves. In addition, we are calling an investigative team to collect materials in order to make it clear what the blow was struck with, how, from which side and so on.
We have you fucking dead to rights, dear Ukies!
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Later, Evgeny Prigozhin shared o photo of the damaged building, claiming that according to preliminary information, there weer no victims among the POWs.
Additional information. I personally examined the place where the missiles hit. At first glance, all Ukrainian prisoners are intact. So if you really wanted to destroy them, guys, you need to repeat the strike urgently. You have all the coordinates. The strike is not bad, but the HIMARS don’t work very well, sorry.
I also have a separate request to the Main Directorate of Intelligence, the AFU and who else is responsible there. Guys, I really ask you not to let the Americans shoot from HIMARS. Do everything yourself because otherwise they will also kill all of you the same way. First, they will strike at the prisoners, then they will hit you on the front edge. Don’t trust the Americans. This is our contention. Why are they meddling?!
This is not first Ukrainian attack on its own fighters captured by Russian forces. For example, on July 29, 2022, Kiev’s forces shelled a detention center in the village of Elenovka in the DPR with HIMARS MLRS. As a result, dozens of Ukrainian POWs were killed. LINK
Probably, this is the way Kiev forces its servicemen to shut down and prevents the POWs from revealing dirty secrets of the AFU.
