At least four people were killed and dozens of children were wounded after a Ukrainian drone strike hit a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region overnight, according to Russian-installed officials, in one of the war’s deadliest reported attacks on a civilian education facility in recent months.
Russian authorities said the drones struck Starobilsk College of Luhansk Pedagogical University, where 86 teenagers aged 14 to 18 were sleeping inside a dormitory building at the time of the attack. Moscow-appointed officials said rescue crews worked through the rubble on Friday searching for children feared trapped beneath collapsed concrete and twisted metal.
Reuters could not independently verify the claims, and Ukraine did not immediately comment on the strike. Kyiv has repeatedly targeted Russian-controlled infrastructure and military positions in occupied territories as it seeks to reclaim land seized by Moscow since its 2022 invasion.
Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova accused Ukrainian forces of carrying out a “targeted strike on sleeping children,” while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attack as a “monstrous crime” and demanded those responsible be punished.
