According to U.S. intelligence officials, Russia has accused Ukraine of a deadly attack on a Moscow-run prison near the front lines of the ongoing war.
On July 29, international journalists and investigators raided Olenivka prison, where 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed and 75 wounded. Washington believes Russia is preparing false evidence before the possible visit, a US official told CBS. News.
"There is reason to believe that Russia will go so far as to make it appear that her HIMARS [High Mobility Artillery Rocket System] in Ukraine was responsible for the attack." officials added.
Another official familiar with the intelligence agency told The Associated Press that Russia could plant HIMARS ammunition at the site to back up their claims. said.
Since mid-June,the United States has provided Ukraine with at least a dozen of her rocket systems as the brutal invasion of Russia rages on.
Ukrainian officials tout theweapon as a 'game-changer', allowing Kyiv's forces to strike targets up to 50 miles away.
Late last month,Russian officials claimed destroyed four of his HIMARS with "high-precision weapons."
This claim was quickly challenged by Ukrainian officials who called the report "fake."
Serhiy Leshchenko, the chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky in Ukraine, has allied himself with the fictitious force of the Russian military. Spreading fake news that it was allegedly destroyed, Putin is trying to send a message to NATO – don't support Ukraine, weapons will be destroyed," Leshchenko tweeted at the time did.
Shortly after the attack on the prison – in an area controlled by the Moscow-backed separatist Donetsk People's Republic – Russian officials sought to blame Ukraine for the destruction.
{87 REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko "The Ukrainian political leadership used the US-made multiple-launch rocket system HIMARS to carry out attacks here and The decision was made to cover up the crimes committed by the prisoners of war, Separatist spokesman Eduardo Basturin told local media at the time.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said Russia It condemned the attack, calling it a "petrifying war crime".
Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mikhail Podoljak called the Russian accusations "a classic, cynical and elaborate false flag operation".
"The purpose is to discredit [us] in front of our partners and to interfere with the supply of weapons," he said, referring to the "deliberate, cynical, "Calculated genocide," he said.
After the attacks, theUnited Nations and the Red Cross requested access to the prison grounds for investigations, but Russia initially denied their requests.
But on Sunday, Moscow said it had asked the United Nations and the Red Cross to investigate,Reuters reported. claimed to have not yet obtained permission to visit the
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also announced the appointment of a fact-finding mission to investigate the killings.
