Russian Foreign Ministry Condemns Deadly Strike on Starobelsk College Dormitory.

May 25, 2026 at 06:47 PM

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Lanka Leader

At least 21 people were killed after a drone strike targeted buildings belonging to the Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk, according to statements issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry and regional authorities.

Russian officials stated that the attack, carried out during the night of May 22, struck a college building and a five-story student dormitory in Starobelsk, located in the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR). Authorities said 86 students aged between 14 and 18 were inside the dormitory at the time of the attack, and the building reportedly collapsed down to the second floor following the strike.

According to the latest information, around 40 people were injured, while rescue operations at the site have now been completed. Nearby residential buildings were also reportedly damaged. Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into the incident.

In an official statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry described the strike as a deliberate “terrorist attack” targeting civilians, claiming there were no military facilities or military personnel in the area.

The ministry alleged that the Ukrainian government, facing setbacks on the battlefield, had resorted to what it described as “inhuman terror” against defenseless children. It further claimed that long-range weapons and drones supplied by NATO countries were used in the attack with technical assistance from Western specialists.

According to the statement, Western countries are also allegedly assisting Ukraine with intelligence gathering and target identification. The ministry said Ukraine and its Western allies bear responsibility for escalating the conflict and undermining peaceful political solutions.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also accused the Ukrainian leadership of hypocrisy, stating that while Kiev publicly expresses concern for children affected by war, it is allegedly responsible for attacks targeting civilians and students.

Moscow expressed condolences to the families of those killed and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

The statement further called on international organizations and the global community to condemn what it described as a “bloody terrorist attack” in Starobelsk, warning that silence over the incident would amount to support for terrorism.

Meanwhile, reports said more than 50 foreign journalists traveled to the scene to cover the incident. Media organizations from 19 countries, including Austria, Brazil, Britain, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Pakistan, Qatar, Spain, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Venezuela, were reportedly present in the Luhansk region.

Russian media also reported that Japanese authorities discouraged their journalists from joining the trip, while the BBC reportedly declined participation and CNN journalists were said to be unavailable.

Full text of the Statement,

Russian Foreign Ministry Statement on the AFU strike on the college of Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk (May 22, 2026)

On the night of May 22, the Kiev neo-Nazi regime used four fixed-wing UAVs to carry out a gruesome terrorist attack on the academic building and dormitory of the college of Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk, LPR.

At the time of the barbaric strike, 86 children aged 14 to 18 were inside the five-storey dormitory building, which collapsed down to the second floor as a result of the attack.

At present, 40 people are known to have been injured. Tragically, four people were killed. Rescue operations are underway at the scene. Nearby administrative buildings, residential houses and social facilities were also damaged.

The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case into the terrorist attack.

All those responsible will be identified and face inevitable severe punishment. None of the perpetrators will be shown mercy.

This strike could not have been accidental. It was a deliberate attack on civilians, carried out in the spirit of the German Nazis. None of those inside the building were or could have been taking part in hostilities, and there are no military facilities near the college.

Suffering defeats on the battlefield, the Kiev regime is opening a new chapter in the armed conflict by unleashing open, inhuman terror against defenceless children.

Such strikes using long-range weapons supplied to the Kiev regime by NATO countries, including UAVs, are carried out with technical assistance from foreign specialists from certain NATO countries. We have reliable information that Western capitals are providing the AFU with intelligence data and assisting with target designation.

By committing this atrocity against children in Starobelsk, the Kiev regime and its handlers assume full responsibility for the escalation of hostilities and the undermining of political and diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.

This happened against the backdrop of Kiev’s hypocritical lamentations about the fate of children affected by military actions. The entire world has now seen just how cynical Zelensky’s regime is, as it turns children into targets of terror.

We express our deepest condolences to the families of those killed and wish the injured a speedy recovery.

We call on international organisations, national governments and the global public to give an honest assessment of the criminal actions of Zelensky’s regime and to resolutely condemn the bloody terrorist attack in Starobelsk. 

Silence will amount to complicity in the gruesome acts of Kiev’s terrorists and indifference to the fate of innocent children who were killed and injured.