Putin Accuses Ukraine of Deadly Attack on Student Dorm, Orders Military to Prepare Options

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered his military to prepare options to retaliate against Ukraine for what he described as a drone attack on a student dormitory that left six people dead and dozens injured, 15 of whom have yet to be identified.

Putin said the attack hit the student dormitory in Starobilsk, in the Russian-controlled province of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. He said that the Kyiv army should know what it is targeting.

The Ukrainian military rejected Russia’s accusations and said it had hit an elite drone command unit in the region. It was stated that Kiev complies with international humanitarian law.

Putin said in his own statement broadcast on state television that there were no military targets near the country.

Putin told officials: “There are no military facilities, intelligence service facilities or related services in the vicinity. Therefore, there is absolutely no basis to claim that the ammunition hit the building as a result of our air defense or electronic warfare systems. The attack was not accidental; it took place in three waves, with 16 UAVs targeting the same place.”

He added that the Russian military had been ordered to prepare options for Moscow to retaliate.

Reuters could not independently confirm what happened. Both sides deny that civilians were deliberately targeted in the war. Ukraine wants to recapture Luhansk, one of four eastern regions that Moscow unilaterally claims as its own in 2022, which Kiev condemns as an illegal land grab.

Russia’s human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said that 86 young people aged between 14 and 18 were sleeping in the hostel of the Starobilsk college of the Luhansk Pedagogical University when they were attacked by Ukrainian drones during the night.

Leonid Pasechnik, a senior official appointed by Russia in Luhansk, said two people were pulled from the rubble. Maria Lvova-Belova, the presidential commissioner for children’s rights, said up to ‌18 children could still be trapped.

Lvova-Belova said that some children being treated at the hospital were reported to be in serious condition.

Local resident Lyubov Yakovlevna told Reuters she heard loud explosions in the attack, which she said was initially carried out with rockets and targeted what she described as a former base. He said he later heard that drones had targeted the student dormitory, causing a fire and people taking shelter in the apartment block.

“A shock wave spread through our house. Nobody could sleep all night. We were watching the fires. I was afraid, I was shaking, it was really scary,” he said.

KREMLIN CALLED THE ATTACK A ‘MONSTER’

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called for those responsible to be punished.

“This is a terrible crime. It is an attack on an educational institution where children and young people are present,” he told reporters.

Moscow said the UN Security Council would hold an emergency session in New York later Friday to discuss the incident.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the top three floors of the hostel’s five floors were destroyed in the Ukrainian attack.

“We call on international organizations, national governments and the global community to make an honest assessment and strongly condemn the bloody terrorist attack,” the statement said.

Photos and videos released by Russian authorities showed rescuers pulling a person from the rubble, heavily damaged buildings (one of which appeared to have partially collapsed) and fires still burning.

Last week, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed revenge after leaving red roses in the rubble of a Kiev apartment building where 24 people, including three children, were killed in a Russian missile attack.