Russia is "running out of steam" in its assault on Ukraine, the chief of Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence agency, Richard Moore, said in a brief comment on social media on Saturday.
Mr Moore made the remark "Running out of steam..." above an earlier post on Twitter by Britain's defence ministry, which described the Russian government as "growing desperate" and as having lost thousands of soldiers in its invasion of Ukraine.
Running out of steam… https://t.co/bExZXZ3l3z
— Richard Moore (@ChiefMI6) July 30, 2022
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling a prison in a separatist eastern region that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured after the fall of Mariupol in May.
Russia said that Ukraine used US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers in the attack on the prison in Olenivka, in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region.
Officials from Russia and the separatist authorities in Donetsk said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded 75.
Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov described the strike as a “bloody provocation” aimed at discouraging Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering.
He said that eight prison guards were also wounded by the shelling.
The Ukrainian military denied any rocket or artillery strikes on Olenivka, insisting that it was not shelling civilian areas and only strikes Russian military targets.
