A Russian airstrike on a prison in a frontline region in southeastern Ukraine has killed 17 people and wounded 42 others, according to Ukrainian officials.
The overnight attack in Zaporizhzhia also damaged surrounding homes, regional leader Ivan Fedorov said. Russian forces launched eight strikes using high-explosive aerial glide bombs, he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russia’s “deliberate strike” on the grounds of a correctional facility, accusing Moscow of killing Ukrainians when a ceasefire “could have long been in place”.
Zaporizhzhia is one of four eastern regions in Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed since 2022, although the region is largely under Ukrainian control.
Ukraine’s justice ministry said four bombs hit the Bilenke penitentiary, destroying the dining hall, administrative HQ and quarantine area and that all those killed and wounded were inmates.
Russian forces have frequently targeted Zaporizhzhia since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner said attacking a prison was a gross violation of humanitarian law as people in detention did not lose their right to life and protection.
US President Donald Trump issued a stark ultimatum to Moscow Monday, warning that Russia had “about 10 or 12 days” to agree a ceasefire or face sweeping sanctions. Speaking during a visit to Scotland, Trump told reporters he would “announce it probably tonight or tomorrow,” adding, “there’s no reason to wait, if you know what the answer is”.
Zelensky praised Trump’s “very important words” and said Russia was “wasting the world’s time”.
Earlier in July, Trump set a 50-day deadline for the Kremlin to reach a truce with Kyiv or risk economic penalties, but the warning has not halted Russia’s barrage of strikes.
There were further casualties in a missile and drone attack late on Monday in the Dnipropetrovsk region of eastern Ukraine.
A strike on the industrial city of Kamyanske left two people dead and five injured, according to regional head Serhiy Lysak.
Another person was killed and several were wounded in the Synelnykivsky district, while a 75-year-old woman was killed and a 68-year-old man injured when their home was hit in a village late on Monday.
The wave of attacks came as Russia pushed deeper into Ukrainian territory in Dnipropetrovsk.
At the weekend, Moscow said its forces had captured the village of Maliyevka, weeks after capturing their first village in the region. Ukraine has rejected Russia’s claims.
Meanwhile, in Russia, officials said Ukraine had launched dozens of drones overnight in the southern Rostov region, killing one person in their car in the town of Salsk and setting fire to a goods train.
Another person was reported killed in their car in the border region of Belgorod and his wife was wounded.
