Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday denounced as a war crime what he said was the Russian shelling of a jail holding Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).

"I heard reports today about the attack of the occupiers on Olenivka, Donetsk region. It was a deliberate Russian war crime, a deliberate mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war. More than 50 dead," Zelenskyy said in a late-night video address.

He called on Washington to declare Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism following the attack.

"I am appealing especially to the United States of America.  A decision is needed and it is needed now," Zelenskyy said, adding that the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) needed to do more to protect Ukrainian POWs.

Russia's Defense Ministry earlier claimed that Kyiv's forces had carried out the attack, in which 40 reportedly died, to prevent its soldiers from surrendering due to low morale.

Separatist authorities and Russian officials said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded another 75.

The Ukrainian military denied making any strikes in Olenivka, and it accused the Russians of shelling the prison to cover up the alleged torture and execution of Ukrainians there. 

The reports have not been independently verified.

The Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner by invading Russian forces after fierce fighting for the port of Mariupol on the Azov Sea. The Ukrainians had been holed up at the Azovstal steel plant for months as they defended the city.

Meanwhile, the ICRC said it was seeking access to the facility and has offered to help evacuate the wounded.

Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on July 29.

Russian military strikes Kyiv for first time in weeks

Russian forces bombarded the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Thursday in the first attack in weeks on the city as Moscow continues its monthslong invasion of its neighbor.

Missiles targeting military installations in the district of Vyshhorod injured 15 people, according to a Telegram statement by Kyiv regional Governor Oleksiy Kuleba.

Life in Kyiv had been returning almost to normal following a failed Russian attempt to take the capital in the early weeks of Moscow's invasion, which was launched on February 24.

The attack came as Ukraine marked its Day of Ukrainian Statehood — a new public holiday implemented by President Zelenskyy after the war broke out — for the first time, and as Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda was paying a visit to Kyiv.

The Chernihiv region northeast of Kyiv was also hit by 10 Russian missiles on Thursday, the regional governor, Vyacheslav Chausov. told Ukrainian TV. This was, again, the first attack on the area in weeks.

The North district command of the Ukrainian armed forces said more than 20 missiles had been fired from Belarus at the Chernihiv region, which borders Russia.

Ukrainian court reduces Russian soldier's life sentence for murder on appeal

A young Russian soldier has had his life sentence reduced to 15 years imprisonment by a Ukrainian court after his defense lawyer appealed the verdict, saying it was handed down under "societal pressure."

The soldier, Vadim Shishimarin, who was 21 at the time he was sentenced, has been found guilty of killing an unarmed civilian in northeastern Ukraine in the early days of Russia's invasion in February.

His was the first verdict of its kind after the start of the invasion.

Shishimarin claimed he had shot the unarmed man, 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov, under pressure from another soldier. 

Zelenskyy attends loading of grain onto first ship after deal with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy watched on as grain was loaded onto a Turkish ship, the first to be readied for transport after a UN-Turkey-brokered deal with Russia to allow cereals exports amid Moscow's invasion.

"The first vessel, the first ship is being loaded since the beginning of the war. This is a Turkish vessel," Zelenskyy said, according to a statement from the presidency.

The statement said exports could start in "the coming days" under the plan, which aims to allow at getting millions of tons of Ukrainian grain currently blocked from release by Russia's naval blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea coast to world markets.

The ship was moored at the port of Chornomorsk on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea to the southwest of Odesa.

The ship-loading took place just a week after Russian missiles struck the port city, Odesa, throwing into question Moscow's commitment to the deal it had signed only hours earlier.

Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Friday that altogether that 17 vessels in Ukraine's Black Sea ports were already loaded with grain, and another was now being loaded.

He told reporters he hoped the first vessels would start leaving port by the
end of this week.

Blinken and Lavrov talk for the first time since war began

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Blinken told reporters afterward, "We had a frank and direct conversation. I pressed the Kremlin to accept the substantial proposal that we put forward."

Blinken was referring to a proposal the Biden administration made public Thursday to exchange Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout who is in prison in the US for the detained Americans, US Olympian and women's basketball star Brittany Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan.

The US Secretary of State also said he told Lavrov that the world will not recognize Russia's effort to annex part of Ukraine's territory. 

A Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs readout said Lavrov told Blinken the US was not living up to promises that exempt food from sanctions against Moscow. 

Germany to send bridge-layer tanks to Ukraine: Defense Ministry

Germany will deliver 16 tanks to Ukraine that can be used to provide temporary bridges or help span damaged ones, enabling troops and military vehicles to cross gaps or rivers, the Defense Ministry said on Friday.

The Biber tanks "will enable Ukrainian troops to cross waters or obstacles in combat," the ministry said in a statement.

It said the first six systems would be delivered this year starting in the fall, with 10 more following next year.

German economy stagnant amid global strains

The German economy neither grew nor shrank in the second quarter compared to the previous one, according to the first estimate by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

In the first quarter, Europe's largest economy grew by 0.8%, the latest data showed.

The stagnation can be put down to a number of factors that have weighed heavily on world economies in the past few years, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic, Destatis said.

Also on Friday, figures released by Germany's Federal Employment agency showed a 0.2 percentage point growth in unemployment to 5.4%, a rise attributed in part to the inclusion of refugees from Ukraine in the data.

Agency official Daniel Terzenbach said, however, that "on the whole, the labor market remains stable despite all stresses and uncertainties."

UK defense minister: Putin may look for new plan amid invasion failures

Russia's invading forces in Ukraine are failing in "many areas," something that might lead Russian President Vladimir Putin to undertake a change in strategy, Britain's defense minister, Ben Wallace, said on Friday.

"The Russians are failing at the moment on the ground in many areas ... Putin's plan A, B, and C has failed and he may look to plan D," Wallace told Sky News television.

Wagner mercenaries likely responsible for front-line sectors: UK Ministry of Defence

Some sections of the front line in eastern Ukraine are now likely to be under the responsibility of the Russian private military firm Wagner Group, according to an intelligence update by the British Ministry of Defence.

This comes as Russia is possibly suffering from major shortages of combat infantry, the update said.

"This is a significant change from the previous employment of the group since 2015, when it typically undertook missions distinct from overt, large-scale regular Russian military
activity," the update said.

However, it said that mercenaries were unlikely to have any meaningful impact on the course of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

International mission to review Russia's human rights situation

The United States will join with 37 other countries in an expert mission that is to review the state of human rights in Russia amid concerns over Moscow's growing clampdown on freedom of expression and reports of torture of people in detention.

The mission was announced on Thursday by US State Department spokesperson Ned Price, who said the mission's report would be publicly released in September.

The review was triggered by the invocation of the "Moscow Mechanism" of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE). The mechanism has been invoked three times since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February.

In April, an OSCE mission said it had found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russia in Ukraine. Russia's mission to the OSCE called the report
"unfounded propaganda."

More on the war in Ukraine

Despite Moscow's assertions to the contrary, Western sanctions on Russia are having a severe impact on the country's economy, according to a study by researchers at the prestigious Yale University in the US. Read the story here.

Conservative politicians and pundits in the US have criticized the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Olena Zelenska, for featuring in a cover story of the magazine Vogue. But Ukrainians have welcomed the publicity it has given to their fight against invading Russian forces. DW looks at both sides of the argument.

Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, there has been an ever-changing stream of arguments to attempt to justify the attack coming from Kremlin figures. DW looks at how the Russian narrative has evolved over the past months.

mm, tj, ar/msh, wd (Reuters, dpa, AFP)