Akshay DidwaniyaA Ukrainian drone barrage tore through a college dormitory in Starobilsk overnight killing at least 21 people, most of them teenagers. Russia called it a deliberate massacre. Ukraine says it was targeting a military drone unit. Here is a full breakdown of everything that happened and the conflicting claims that followed.
A College Dormitory in Ruins
A devastating overnight drone strike leveled large sections of Starobilsk College in killing at least 21 people and wounding over 40 others. The attack struck a dormitory housing 86 teenagers, aged 14 to 18, and rattled the town of Starobilsk in the annexed Luhansk region a settlement of roughly 16,500 people sitting around 65 kilometers from the front line.
The four-hour bombardment brought down both the academic building and the dormitory of Starobilsk College an institution affiliated with Luhansk Pedagogical University. Russia’s Foreign Ministry released a casualty list showing victims born between 2003 and 2008. Video footage released by the ministry showed a gaping ruin where a section of the five-story structure once stood.
Voices from the Rubble
Eyewitnesses described a terrifying night drones buzzing overhead and explosions constantly rattling the darkness. Yelena, a 31-year-old teacher at the college, said she led roughly 30 students out of the building. “Our only goal is to survive,” she told them as she guided them through the chaos.
Maxim, a 17-year-old student hospitalized after the strike, recalled studying on the fifth floor with four classmates when the attack began. The group moved to the hallway considered a safer part of the building but the destruction found them anyway.
“I was covered by debris from the first strike. I got out on my own, saw girls trapped under rubble and started helping,” he said. “I fell from the fifth floor down to the second. Just as I tried to stand up, a brick fell on my head. Then I heard the drone again. I suddenly stood up, took one step and a blast wave threw me outside.”
Russian-installed authorities in Luhansk announced Sunday and Monday as official days of mourning.
Moscow Calls It a War Crime
Russia’s Foreign Ministry was swift and blunt in its condemnation insisting “the strike could not have been accidental” and flatly stating there were no military facilities near the college. “It was a deliberate attack against the civilian population, carried out in a manner reminiscent of German Nazis,” the ministry declared in a Friday statement.
Russia’s newly appointed human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova, visited Starobilsk after the attack. She claimed the building took hits from 16 separate drones and alleged that Ukrainian forces deliberately waited for students to flee before striking again and again.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova organized a trip for 50 accredited foreign correspondents to the devastated site framing the visit as a counter to what she called “blatant Western lies.” The Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov later noted that several Western outlets chose not to attend. “This does not add credibility to the information they are preparing,” Peskov said.
“We have not heard any official statements condemning Kyiv” regarding the strike, Peskov added.
On the following Sunday, Russia launched a massive retaliatory strike on Kyiv unleashing its nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik missile alongside a barrage of drones. Ukraine’s Air Force said the raid included 600 drones and 90 missiles with 549 drones and 55 missiles intercepted. Four people died and more than 100 were wounded in Kyiv and surrounding areas.
By Monday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry declared the Starobilsk attack “the final straw” announcing the start of systematic strikes on Ukraine’s military-industrial infrastructure, command posts and decision-making centers. Foreign nationals and diplomatic staff received advisories to leave Kyiv as soon as possible.
Kyiv Denies It Struck Civilians
Ukraine firmly pushed back on Russian claims denying that any civilian target was ever intended. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine strike military infrastructure and facilities used for military purposes,” the Ukrainian military said in an official statement, adding that it “strictly observes the norms of international humanitarian law.”
Ukraine said its actual target in Starobilsk was the Rubicon Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies a Russian Defense Ministry unit specializing in drone warfare against Ukraine. Kyiv also confirmed overnight strikes on several other Russian targets including an oil refinery, ammunition depots and air defense systems.
The World Responds With Caveats
The international reaction was one of concern mixed with skepticism about claims made inside Russian-controlled territory. An emergency UN Security Council session requested by Moscow saw the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict state that “civilians, children, humanitarian personnel and civilian infrastructure including schools and hospitals must never be targeted.”
France called the deaths of innocent children “always unacceptable” and called for an independent inquiry but also accused Russia of bombarding Ukrainian cities daily with total disregard for civilian lives.
Latvia reminded the council that the UN can only verify casualties and international law violations on Ukrainian-controlled territory pointing out that Russia blocks UN access to its occupied zones.
Britain said “the incident has not been objectively or independently verified” and noted that “there would be no civilian deaths if Russia had not launched its illegal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”
Pratik Agrawal
Mayur Mohta
The BRICS Times