Brussels, Belgium. Russian officials said on Saturday that the death toll from a drone strike on a student dorm in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine has risen to 16, with most of the victims young women. The statement came after a heated debate at the United Nations over the incident.
Claims and denials
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military on Friday to prepare options for retaliation against Ukraine after Moscow accused Kyiv of what it described as a deliberate drone strike on a college in the town of Starobilsk. Ukraine’s military denied responsibility, saying it had struck an elite drone command unit in the area and that its forces complied with international humanitarian law. Putin said there were no military facilities in the area.
Reuters was not able to independently verify what happened.
Scene at the dorm
At the scene on Saturday, a crane was working to remove rubble from a large gap in the building. Inside one shattered classroom, bricks and dust covered rows of student desks with “I love English” written on the wall. Elsewhere, a stairwell was blocked by debris.
Casualties and local accounts
Russia’s state-run news agency RIA reported that the death toll had risen to 16, citing the emergency ministry. Five people remained trapped under the rubble.
Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Russian-installed administration in the region, published a preliminary list containing details of 11 victims, most of them 19-year-old women.
A local resident said rockets had targeted a former base and drones had then hit the student dorm, causing fires to break out.
United Nations meeting
At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by Russia on Friday, Russia accused Ukraine of war crimes over the incident, while Ukraine said it was a baseless claim that had not been independently verified.
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