Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Nations Andriy Melnyk tore into Russia’s “fake” propaganda narrative around the alleged Starobilsk dormitory strike, saying Moscow was exploiting children’s rights and UN institutions to justify its continuing war against Ukraine. Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday, Melnyk said Russia’s version of events was already “collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions,” pointing to Moscow’s repeated claims that Ukrainian forces deliberately targeted children in Russian-occupied Starobilsk.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “At last Friday’s emergency meeting, Mr. Nebenzya told this Council of, and I quote, ‘86 students aged 14 to 18,’ and repeatedly referred to ‘sleeping children,’ ‘minors,’ and the ‘deliberate killing of minors,’” Ambassador Melnyk said, referring to Russia’s UN envoy Vassily Nebenzya. On May 22 Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of launching a drone strike on a student dormitory in Starobilsk, a Russian-controlled city in Ukraine’s Luhansk region. Ukraine denied targeting civilians and said it had struck an elite Russian drone command unit in the area. Melnyk said the Russian representative repeatedly framed the alleged incident as an attack on children, even inviting UNICEF and the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict to address the matter.
Melnyk Blasts Russia’s Starobilsk Narrative as Moscow’s Own Documents Expose Fake
Melnyk said Moscow’s own documents undermined its narrative, showing absolutely no children on the casualty list Russia itself published.
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