Ukraine’s military denied that it struck a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region on Friday (22 May).
The denial came after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to prepare retaliation options for the attack, which he said had killed six people, including children.
Ukraine’s General Staff said the overnight attack on 21-22 May in the occupied city of Starobilsk had targeted an elite drone unit, and dismissed accusations that it had struck a student dormitory as “manipulation.”
Putin described the strike as an intentional attack on a student dormitory, which he said left six people dead, dozens injured and 15 still unaccounted for.
“There are no military facilities, intelligence service facilities, or related services in the vicinity. Therefore, there is absolutely no basis for claiming that the munitions struck the building as a result of our air defence or electronic warfare systems,” the Russian president said.
“The strike was not accidental; it came in three waves, with 16 drones targeting the same location,” he added, noting that the Russian military had been ordered to draw up options for Moscow to retaliate.
Ukraine wants to recapture Luhansk, one of four eastern regions that Moscow unilaterally claimed as its own in 2022, in what Kyiv denounced as an illegal land grab.
Yana Lantratova, Russia’s human rights commissioner, said 86 teenagers aged 14 to 18 had been asleep inside the hostel belonging to Luhansk Pedagogical University’s Starobilsk College when Ukrainian drones attacked it during the night.
Leonid Pasechnik, the top Russian-installed official in Luhansk, said two people had been pulled from the rubble. Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, said up to 18 children could still be trapped.
Some of the children being treated in hospital were reported to be in a serious condition, Lvova-Belova added.
Lyubov Yakovlevna, a local resident, told Reuters she heard loud explosions from the attack, which she said had first been carried out by rockets and had targeted what she described as a former base.
She said she then heard drones targeting the student dormitory, causing fires to break out and forcing people to seek shelter in her apartment block.
“A shock wave went through our apartment. Nobody could sleep all night. We were watching the fires. I was afraid, I was shaking, it was really terrifying,” she said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called for those responsible to be punished.
“This is a monstrous crime. An attack on an educational institution where children and young people are present,” he told reporters.
The UN voiced alarm over reports of the strike, but said it did not have access to the area and could not verify the details.
Photographs and video released by Russian authorities showed rescue workers recovering one man from the rubble, as well as severely damaged buildings.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Ukraine had informed it that a fire broke out at the Dniprovska 750-kilovolt electrical substation on Friday because of military activity. The fire partially disrupted off-site power supplies to the South Ukraine nuclear power plant, according to the IAEA.
The UN nuclear watchdog said the country’s second-largest nuclear power plant was partially disconnected from its off-site power supplies at the request of the grid operator as a result of the incident.
Elsewhere in the conflict, two people were injured in Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after falling debris from a drone triggered a fire at an oil terminal, Russian officials said early on Saturday.
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President Donald Trump said Iran is keen to reach a deal with the United States, claiming Washington had paused engagement to allow funeral ceremonies for late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Russia's Defence Ministry has said its forces are clearing the town of Lyman in Donetsk of Ukrainian forces, Moscow's state news agency Tass reported. Meanwhile, Russian attacks killed at least six people across three Ukrainian regions on Friday, regional officials said.
Uzbekistan will open an embassy in Georgia, the Central Asian country’s presidency has said. The announcement follows talks between Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze in Tbilisi.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the eastern German city of Erfurt on Saturday as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) opened its annual party conference, where delegates voted to keep Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla as the party's co-leaders.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has raised its forecast for the rapid emergence of a strong El Niño, warning the climate pattern is likely to drive higher global temperatures and intensify extreme weather in the months ahead.
India is investigating a data breach at Tata Electronics that exposed sensitive documents linked to Apple's unreleased iPhone 18 Pro, marking the government's first public comments on the incident.
Iran and the U.S. have concluded indirect talks in Doha without a major breakthrough, with discussions focused on maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and frozen Iranian funds. Both sides are expected to meet again after the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
International politicians and religious leaders have paid respects to Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei throughout the day, ahead of his six day funeral ceremony which begins on Saturday. His casket is currently on display at the Iman Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran.
Germany has requested urgent talks with China's ambassador following reports that Chinese authorities trained Russian soldiers, adding fresh strain to relations between Beijing and Europe amid the war in Ukraine.
Russia's Defence Ministry has said its forces are clearing the town of Lyman in Donetsk of Ukrainian forces, Moscow's state news agency Tass reported. Meanwhile, Russian attacks killed at least six people across three Ukrainian regions on Friday, regional officials said.
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to use next week's NATO summit in Ankara to advance his push for greater European responsibility in security, with a bilateral meeting planned with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as Paris seeks closer coordination with key allies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated U.S. President Donald Trump on the 250th anniversary of American independence, saying Russia and the United States share a special responsibility for maintaining global security as the world's two largest nuclear powers.
China said on Saturday it had launched a coast guard patrol east of Taiwan, prompting a strong protest from Taipei, which accused Beijing of illegally expanding its authority and undermining regional stability.
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