Russian airstrike on Ukrainian prison kills 17 inmates, injures 42 in Zaporizhzhia

A Russian airstrike on a prison facility in southeastern Ukraine has killed 17 inmates and injured 42 others, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday, in one of the deadliest attacks on a detention center since the start of the full-scale invasion.

The overnight strike targeted the Bilenke penitentiary in the Zaporizhzhia region — an area on the frontline and one of four regions Russia claims to have annexed, despite it being largely under Ukrainian control.

According to Ivan Fedorov, the regional governor, Russian forces launched eight high-explosive aerial glide bombs, causing severe destruction.

The blasts obliterated key sections of the prison, including the dining hall, administrative headquarters, and quarantine unit. Nearby residential homes also sustained damage, though no civilian casualties outside the prison were reported.

“All those killed and wounded were inmates,” Ukraine’s justice ministry confirmed in a statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, condemned the airstrike as “another war crime” by Moscow.

“This was not a military facility. It was a prison. Russia continues to violate every rule of war and humanity,” Yermak wrote on social media.

There has been no immediate response from Russian authorities regarding the incident.

The Zaporizhzhia region has witnessed intensified fighting in recent weeks, as Ukrainian forces attempt to push back against entrenched Russian positions.

Despite Russia’s formal annexation of the area in 2022, it remains a volatile and contested zone with regular artillery and air assaults.

International human rights organizations have previously warned of the heightened risks to detainees and civilians in conflict zones, and Tuesday’s strike has drawn renewed calls for accountability.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was seeking urgent access to the site and called for the protection of detainees under international law.

As Ukraine continues to document and report potential war crimes, Kyiv has reiterated its call for stronger international measures to hold Russian military and political leaders accountable.