Rescue teams completed search operations last Saturday (23) at the site of the bombing by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on a student dormitory in Starobelsk, in the Luhansk region. According to the press service of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, the bodies of 21 victims were found.
“Search operations in Starobilsk, at the site of the collapse of the dormitory of Luhansk Pedagogical University, have been completed. All bodies of the victims have been recovered from the rubble. A total of 63 people were injured, 21 of whom died,” the statement says.
On Monday (25), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized Western countries for not condemning the Ukrainian attack on the student dormitory.
“We have seen no action that could be perceived as a condemnation of this barbaric terrorist attack against young people. That is all that can be said in this context,” Peskov said.
A Ukrainian drone strike on the Lugansk region in the early hours of last Friday (22) hit a student dormitory. Initially, it was reported that six children had died, but local authorities stated that others were still under the rubble. On Saturday (23), the search was completed, and the Lugansk region declared official mourning on the 24th and 25th.
The territory of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic, located in eastern Ukraine, was formally annexed by Russia in September 2022, along with the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporyzhye. However, Moscow does not have full control of the region, where intense fighting occurs on the front line of the conflict.
Foreign journalists visit attack site
More than 50 foreign journalists from 19 countries traveled to Starobelsk after the attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Brasil de Fato‘s reporting team was present in the delegation organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
On Monday (25), Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that several Western media outlets decided not to travel to Starobelsk to observe the site of the attack.
“We note that several Western media outlets decided not to go there under various pretexts. This does not favor the image of these outlets; it does not add credibility to the information they publish,” said Peskov.
Upon receiving international correspondents, the governor of Luhansk, Leonid Pasechnik, stated that “children’s lives are untouchable, there is no justification for such acts.”
“First time so many young people are killed […]. Violent attacks by fascists like this are unacceptable in the 21st century, but we will find the perpetrators and judge them under international law, as this is a war crime. The parents of these young people could not understand why these attacks happened,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russia’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Yana Lantrapova, accused the Ukrainian government of lying about the drone bombing launched in Lugansk. Kiev had stated that the attack targeted Russian military installations.
“You can see the hypocrisy, the lies. You only see the belongings of children, of civilians; there are no military installations or military personnel inside there, it was just a school. These children wanted to become teachers, engineers, programmers; they wanted to have a future, they were creative, but their lives were cut short,” he said.
At the time of the attack, 86 teenagers were in the dormitory. A state of emergency was declared in the city. Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the incident as a “monstrous crime of the Kyiv regime,” while Russian President Vladimir Putin classified the bombing as a terrorist attack and instructed the Ministry of Defense to prepare response proposals.
Russian retaliation
On Sunday (24), Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with the hypersonic missile “Oreshnik.” According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the attack involved 600 drones and 90 missiles, of which 549 and 55 were intercepted, respectively.
Attacks occurred near government buildings, schools, a university and residential buildings, leaving four dead and 55 injured.
The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, stated that the massive missile and drone attack, including the Oreshnik missile, targeted military facilities. Moscow did not comment on the damage in Kyiv and civilian casualties.
