01/06/2026
Russian Embassy Statement on the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Strike on the Lugansk State Pedagogical University College in Starobelsk
⚡️ In the early hours of May 22, the N**i Kiev regime carried out a bloody terrorist attack on the academic building and dormitory of a college of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk, the Luhansk People’s Republic. At the time of this cowardly and brutal attack, 86 students, aged between 14 and 18, were inside the five-storey dormitory. The building collapsed to the second floor. Nearly 50 people were injured. Tragically, 21 lost their lives. Nearby administrative buildings, residential blocks, and public facilities were also damaged.
▪️ This was not a random strike. It was a deliberate, targeted terrorist act against defenseless civilians — children and young people who were simply asleep in their dormitory. There were no military units, command posts, or any legitimate military targets in the vicinity. The nearest actual military infrastructure was located several kilometers away, making any claim of “military necessity” a blatant lie.
▪️ Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation into this terrorist attack. All those responsible — from the direct perpetrators who gave the order and launched the strike drones or missiles, to the top leadership of the Zelensky regime in Kiev — will be identified and held accountable, and will face inevitable and severe punishment. This atrocity fits perfectly into the long-established pattern of Kiev regime’s war crimes: the deliberate shelling of residential areas, schools, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure across Donbass for over a decade.
👉 It is straight out of the German N**i playbook — terror civilians to break the will of the people who chose to live in peace with Russia. The only difference is that today’s neo-N**is in Kiev use Western-supplied weapons, paid for by American and European taxpayers. We note with regret that the West continues to turn a blind eye to such crimes when they are committed by its Ukrainian proxies. This hypocritical “selective blindness” only encourages further escalation and more bloodshed.
▪️ This is merely one of many examples: in response to the deliberate strikes carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on May 22 against the teaching college in Starobelsk, Russia called for a joint meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. That appeal was declined. Instead, the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship convened a special meeting to discuss Russia’s response to the attack on the college, yet made no mention of the students of Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk, who were killed.
👉 We call on international missions and organisations, as well as national governments and the global community, to provide a honest and principled assessment of the criminal actions of the Zelensky regime. We call for the unequivocal condemnation of this brutal terrorist attack in Starobelsk.
▪️ The Russian Federation will continue to protect the lives and security of its citizens and compatriots in the new regions. Those who raise their hand against our children will always receive the response they deserve. Justice will prevail.
