UN chief launches fact-finding mission into Ukraine prison attack

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he would launch a fact-finding mission into an attack in the front-line Ukrainian town of Olenivka that killed prisoners held by Moscow-backed separatists, Report informs, citing Reuters.

Russia and Ukraine both requested an investigation, Guterres told reporters. He said the terms of reference for the mission, which would need agreement from Russia and Ukraine, were being prepared.

Russia claimed that Ukraine’s military used US-supplied rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk People’s Republic. Separatist authorities and Russian officials said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded another 75.