Ukrainian attack on occupied town kills 1

MOSCOW

Ukrainian drones struck a college in the Russian-occupied region of Lugansk early on May 22, killing at least one person and wounding dozens of others, Russian officials said.

Lugansk is in east Ukraine, but is almost entirely occupied by Russia, which claims the region as its own.

An image published by the region’s Russian-installed prosecutor’s office showed what appeared to be a school in the town of Starobilsk, its windows blown out with flames visible in one of them.

“Enemy drones attacked the academic building and dormitory of Starobelsk Professional College,” the region’s Russian-installed governor Leonid Pasechnik said in a post on Russia’s MAX messenger, using the Russian name for the town.

“At the time of the strike, 86 children aged 14 to 18 were there. Thirty-five suffered injuries of varying severity,” he added.

Rescuers have recovered at least one body from the rubble and are searching for others, Russian state media reported, citing the country’s emergencies ministry.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which investigates serious crimes, accused Ukraine of firing four drones at the building.

“As a result of the attack, the five-story building collapsed to the second floor,” it said.

Starobilsk lies about 65 kilometers from the front line in east Ukraine.

Russian forces captured the town in 2022, shortly after launching their full-scale offensive.

Ukraine, which denies targeting civilians, regularly fires drones at Russian-controlled areas in retaliation for mass Russian strikes on its own people.