Ukrainian drones struck a college dormitory in the Russian-occupied region of Lugansk early on Friday, killing six people and wounding dozens of others, Russian officials said, but Kyiv denied targeting civilians.
“As many as 15 others remained missing since Friday afternoon,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in televised comments, describing the incident as a terrorist attack.
Putin ordered his defence ministry to prepare a response, without elaborating.
The Lugansk region lies in eastern Ukraine, but Russia, which claims it as its own, occupies almost the entire area..
Images released by the region’s Russian-installed governor showed what appeared to be a college in the town of Starobilsk with its windows blown out, flames visible in one of them.
“Enemy drones attacked the academic building and dormitory of Starobelsk Professional College,” Moscow-installed governor Leonid Pasechnik said in a post on Russia’s MAX messenger, using the Russian name for the town.
“At the time of the strike, 86 children aged 14 to 18 were there,” he added.
Ukraine’s General Staff said on Friday, “it had hit a Russian military unit’s headquarters around Starobilsk, denying it had targeted civilians and calling Moscow’s allegations manipulative information."
It stated that its forces had struck “one of the headquarters of the ‘Rubikon’ unit in the area of the city of Starobilsk, adding that the unit was involved in carrying out strikes against Ukrainian civilians.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine carry out strikes on military infrastructure and facilities used for military purposes, strictly adhering to the norms of international humanitarian law and the laws and customs of war,” it added in a statement.
Starobilsk lies about 65 kilometres from the front line in eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces captured the town in 2022, shortly after launching their full-scale offensive.
Putin said, “the attack took place as the students were sleeping.”
“Currently, it is known that six people were killed, 39 were wounded and 15 people are unaccounted for, as the search through the rubble is still ongoing,” he also said in televised comments.
“There are no military facilities, special services, or related services near the dormitory,” he added.
Russia’s foreign ministry mentioned that those responsible would face inevitable and severe punishment.
“There will be no leniency,” it said.
Russia’s Investigative Committee accused the Ukrainian military of having fired multiple drones at the building.
“As a result of the attack, the five-storey building collapsed to the second floor,” it reported.
Ukraine, which denies targeting civilians, regularly fires drones at Russian-controlled areas in retaliation for mass Russian strikes on its people.
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has recorded more than 60,000 civilian casualties since 2022, almost 90 per cent of which were in areas controlled by Ukraine.
A massive Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv last week killed 24 people, including three children, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Russia fired more than 100 drones at Ukraine between late Thursday and early Friday, according to the Ukrainian air force.
