Forensic experts yesterday sifted through the ruins of a dormitory largely destroyed in what Russian authorities say was a Ukrainian drone attack in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, seized and placed under Russian control in the four-year-old war.
Authorities said search operations concluded on Saturday night and put the death toll in the strike on the teacher training college at 21, many of them young women.
The building’s facade was gashed by gaping holes and smashed windows. Piles of twisted metal and concrete lay outside the building looking onto what was once a courtyard, with wrecked desks and cupboards piled up inside.
A worker in protective gear examined pieces of metal and other debris laid out on a tarpaulin as workers from Russia’s Investigative Committee compiled data from the incident on Friday.
Reuters reported from Starobilsk on a media facility trip organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on May 24, 2026.
Ukraine’s military denied responsibility for the attack, saying it had struck an elite drone command unit in the area and that its forces complied with international humanitarian law.
“Three waves of UAVs (drones) 10-15 minutes apart,” Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantrova said outside the wrecked building as a group of people held up photos of those killed.
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