Russia Shows Details & Footage of Deadly Starobelsk Dormitory Attack

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]As you know, on 22 May, Ukraine’s armed forces launched a deliberate strike on a college and dormitory in Starobelsk, Lugansk People’s Republic. At Russia’s request, At Russia’s request, the UN Security Council convened for an emergency meeting on Friday, but we wanted to give you more details on what happened. 86 students aged 14 to 19, along with one staff member, were living in the dormitory. These were children and teenagers. They were not on the front line, they were unarmed, and they neither participated nor could possibly have participated in hostilities.

[00:00:45]They were asleep. It was at that moment when the strike happened, turning an ordinary night in the student dormitory into a nightmare. According to the latest reports, 21 people, mostly young girls, were killed and 63 students were injured in this horrific attack.

[00:01:06]Many of the wounded remain hospitalized, some in critical condition. The target was not a command center, a fortified position, a weapons depot, or military barracks, but a civilian facility.

[00:01:21]There were no military installations, government offices, or security service facilities near the dormitory.

[00:01:26]The deliberate nature of the attack is further confirmed by the fact that 16 UAVs targeted the same location in three successive waves, causing the five-story dormitory building to collapse down to the second floor.

[00:01:41]It’s yet another glaring manifestation of the Nazi and terrorist character of the Kiev regime, which does not hesitate to kill minors in cold blood. Russian investigative authorities have opened a criminal case on charges of terrorism. All those responsible will be identified and will face inevitable and severe punishment. At the UN Security Council meeting on Friday, we once again heard the habitual set of excuses routinely used whenever the West seeks to shield the Kiev regime, and I quote: “There is no independent verification.”; “UN representatives do not have access to the site.”; “We cannot confirm the authenticity of the information.”; “Russia is exploiting this for propaganda purposes.”, and so on and so forth. The cynicism displayed by certain Western delegations was really staggering. The Permanent Representative of Denmark stated that it was “difficult to comment on statements made by the Russian Federation until they are independently verified,” before effectively suggesting that, “unlike Ukraine, there is no free media in Russia or in the occupied territories.” When we asked whether they felt any shame, we received a response that has become emblematic of the moral decline of European diplomacy: “No, we do not feel ashamed.”

[00:03:06]The Permanent representative of Latvia went even further, calling the strike on the college a “provocation and a Kremlin fake,” thus denying the very existence of the destroyed dormitory, the dead and wounded students, the rescue efforts, and the grief of their families.

[00:03:22]Equally appalling was the statement by the representative of the Kiev regime. To remove any doubt, on May 24 the Russian side invited more than 50 foreign journalists from 19 countries – including Austria, Brazil, the UK, Hungary, Venezuela, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Qatar, China, Cuba, Lebanon, the Emirates, Pakistan, the United States, Turkey, Finland, and France – to visit the site of the tragedy in Starobelsk so as to see with their own eyes what happened there. As a result, they acknowledged the accuracy of the information we had presented. Some Western media outlets, however, preferred to continue speculations regarding the “unverified claims” without ever approaching the scene itself.

[00:04:06]Tokyo barred its journalists from participating in the visit, the BBC officially declined the invitation, while CNN representatives were reportedly “on vacation.”

[00:04:20]The video footage, that you’ll see shortly, features victims and witnesses speaking about the tragedy.

[00:04:26]Their accounts eloquently confirm that the facilities were strictly civilian in nature.

[00:04:31]No matter how much representatives of the Kiev regime claim that the strike targeted military site in Starobelsk, firsthand eyewitness accounts completely refute their claims.

[00:04:44]It's true. Written literally the  day before the tragedy. We support each other. We don't give up. This  was one of the psychology lessons.

[00:04:58]The girl trapped under concrete slabs isn't  talking about herself, but about her friend.

[00:05:08]Both were rescued. Ola Kovaliva is already feeling  better. It was her moaning under the rubble.

[00:05:28]boyhood. The stubbel's college dormatory.  Classrooms are in the same building, bunk beds, rooms that miraculously survived. Many people  fled from here in a hurry, some barefoot. It was still dark. Ukrainian militants didn't miss.  They deliberately targeted the educational institution. One after another, several drones  hit the same buildings. It's obvious this isn't a military facility. This is what the children  made with their own hands. These are the ones who were getting an education, dreaming of  becoming elementary school teachers. Here's one of the classrooms which is set up exactly like  a class for young children. In this specific area, they taught the students exactly how to interact  with very little kids. Here there are many colorful toys, educational toys, and a variety of  interesting books. These are the things used by both elementary school and preschool teachers.  Here they taught how to care for children and to be compassionate. And when Ukrainian drones  struck at night, the kids did their best to save each other. Elena, a teacher, helped the children  leave the dormatory for a safe place that night.

[00:06:50]Adults who lived nearby also rushed  to help. Constantine Duboy led several teenagers out of the fire, but was  himself wounded by the next explosion.

[00:07:18]Today the authorities of the Luhansk Republic  published a list of the deceased 17 names.

[00:07:24]There are more victims. The identification  process is ongoing. An air raid alert has been declared again. The search and rescue operation is  temporarily suspended, but it resumes immediately as soon as the threat passes. We see destruction.  It's all over the building, but some parts, yes, have survived. Several people are in hospitals in  serious condition. One had to be sent to Moscow for treatment. Elena Copilova, the mother of  Maxim, the young man with severe injuries.

[00:07:58][laughter] It's an immense tragedy, an indescribable  pain for people who have lost their children, their closest loved ones. Not  everyone is ready to speak.

[00:08:06]Their souls are torn apart. But some in  the West have already called this pain a lie. A fake supposedly claiming that  Ukrainian drones attacked the military.

[00:08:36]Investigators from the investigative  committee are carefully collecting all physical evidence. This will form  the basis of a case on a war crime.

[00:08:55]Among the ruined walls, there are  only books, beds, and desks left.

[00:08:59]An ordinary college became the target for  Ukrainian criminals, where certificates and photographs from a previous life still hang  on the walls of the classrooms. Just ordinary, cheerful kids and teachers. For many, after this  tragedy, life will never be the same. For many, there is no life left at all. 19-year-old Arena  Deivotikova, the main activist of her group, bright and kind. This is how her friends  remember her. Just a couple of days ago, she won the title of Miss Audience Choice on the  college stage and took first place in the beauty of the faculty contest. 19-year-old Dasha Seruk  was the life of the student group. She was raised by her grandmother. She lost her parents  and wanted to raise many children herself.

[00:09:44]19-year-old Ana Pogrebnichenko was born  in the village of Belurakino. She came to Stoilk to get an education. They are  beautiful and talented. Now their dreams will never come true. Their dreams were  shattered by the attack of war criminals, Ukrainian militants. This  crime will not go unpunished.

[00:10:04]The question goes: where does this brutality come from? And what is the cause?

[00:10:10]The answer is simple: it is Kiev’s revenge against the people of Lugansk People’s Republic who chose Russia.

[00:10:16]Zelensky is actually killing his own former compatriots. I would like to emphasize this one more time: he is exterminating his former fellow citizens for refusing to live under his neo-Nazi rule. How can he hypocritically argue that people matter more than territories when he is responsible for such terrorist attacks? We’ll play the following... We’ll play the following footage on mute because it’s simply too heartbreaking to watch here.

[00:10:48]You can find it among the materials from this press conference, which are accessible via the QR code on the screens before you.

[00:10:54]You can clearly see just how much suffering Kiev has brought upon these people.

[00:10:59]Western capitals may speak endlessly about children’s rights, but their reaction to the tragedy in Starobelsk shows that, in their political worldview, children have long been divided into “convenient” and “inconvenient” victims. If the suffering of a child can be used against Russia, it immediately becomes an international scandal. But when children die because of the premeditated actions of the Kiev regime, the tragedy disappears behind caveats, doubts, and references to “context”. This is not merely double standards. It is a moral failure and complete disgrace. The Zelensky regime and its Western accomplices supplying Ukraine’s armed forces with weapons for committing crimes against our people have shown to the whole world their rude disdain for the norms of international humanitarian law.

[00:11:56]They are openly trampling upon the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols that regulate the protection of the civilian population during conflicts, the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child and some other prominent international acts.

[00:12:12]Of particular concern is the conduct of the UN Secretariat, which has once again chosen intentionally vague language in order to avoid offending the Kiev regime by calling a spade a spade.

[00:12:24]We are told that the organization lacks access to the territory and, therefore, cannot confirm details of what happened. Despite us repeatedly confirming to the Secretariat that they are permitted to visit frontline areas, but only via Russian territory due to security concerns, the UN has consistently refused, citing its respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

[00:12:51]This is a political choice by the Secretariat, not any unwillingness on our part to provide access.

[00:12:58]Anyone wishing to visit the Lugansk People’s Republic, Donetsk People’s Republic, Zaporozhye or Kherson regions are welcome to do so via the territory of the Russian Federation. It’s not our whim; it’s done for the security reasons. We cannot guarantee the security of all those who would like to cross through the line of combat. Let me underline this once again – the absence of access does not remove the UN’s responsibility to provide an objective assessment of the strike on a civilian educational facility and dormitory, housing teenagers. We regularly provide the UN Secretariat with materials documenting crimes committed by the Kiev regime against civilians, yet Secretary-General Guterres chooses to ignore them. If additional materials are required, we are ready to transmit them. Tellingly, the UN Secretariat faces no such difficulties while commenting on the cases when Ukraine is presented as a “victim” of the so-called “Russian full-scale invasion”.

[00:13:58]The Organization quickly finds the “right” language, including the emotional condemnations, the political emphasis, and the calls for action. Yet, in the case of Starobelsk, we once again hear the same biased, muted, and lukewarm language that does little to conceal the selective nature of this approach. The contrast becomes even more obvious when recalling other cases in which the Secretariat and UN structures showed no such restraint.

[00:14:32]One example is the Bucha provocation, which has become a textbook case of hypocrisy and double standards.

[00:14:38]For several years, the Russian Side has requested the Secretariat’s assistance in obtaining the list of those killed in Bucha, but without success. Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sent a letter to António Guterres containing specific questions regarding the Bucha incident. We are awaiting detailed and elaborate answers.

[00:15:02]So far, however, we continue to see evasion, delays, and an unwillingness to examine anything that could undermine the version of events convenient for the “Collective West”.

[00:15:12]The same selectivity is evident in humanitarian incidents in territories controlled by Kiev.

[00:15:18]When the UN humanitarian convoy was struck near Belozerka, the Secretariat promptly issued a statement, without establishing the facts or conducting an investigation. By relying solely on claims made by the Ukrainian Side, it placed full responsibility on the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

[00:15:36]A similar situation occurred with the Ukrainian NGO “Proliska Humanitarian Mission”.

[00:15:43]This raises an obvious question: why is the UN Secretariat ready to speak firmly regarding situation in Ukraine, yet suddenly hides behind the phrases like “we do not have access” when it comes to the strikes on Russian territories, including Starobelsk? Such an approach is clearly politically selective.

[00:16:03]It undermines trust in the United Nations and demonstrates that universal principles for the protection of civilians have been turned into political tools used against those the Western self-proclaimed “democracies” oppose.

[00:16:17]When children in Donbass are killed, the West speaks of “unverified information”.

[00:16:21]But when similar accusations are directed at Russia, the presumption of guilt appears immediately, and the entire machinery of political pressure begins operating without hesitation, doubt, or demands for access.

[00:16:34]The Kiev regime does not exist in a vacuum.

[00:16:39]Its numerous atrocities are fueled by the certainty that, after every crime, its Western sponsors will either remain silent, cast doubt on the obvious, or simply blame Russia instead.

[00:16:53]This approach effectively encourages further attacks on civilians, as those responsible know they will not be held accountable.

[00:17:01]Russia will spare no effort in establishing the full circumstances of this crime and bringing everyone involved to justice, including those who gave the orders, enabled the strike, supplied the weapons, provided political cover or attempted to suppress information about the tragedy.

[00:17:18]The man-made tragedy in Starobelsk cannot be erased through diplomatic maneuvering, media silence or references to “unverified information”. This premeditated crime is further evidence of the lengths to which the Kiev regime is prepared to go to intimidate civilians and of how low its Western backers are willing to sink to preserve a narrative that suits them.

[00:17:47]In response to this and many other multiple crimes of the Kiev regime, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are beginning to launch consistent and systematic strikes on Ukrainian defense industry enterprises in Kiev, including facilities dedicated to designing, manufacturing, programming and preparing drones for operation.

[00:18:10]The Ukrainian militants use these drones with the help of NATO specialists, who supply components and provide reconnaissance and target acquisition data. The strikes will target decision-making centers and command posts.

[00:18:25]As the aforementioned facilities are scattered across Kiev, we are urging foreign citizens, including diplomatic and international organization personnel, to leave the city as soon as possible.

[00:18:36]We further urge residents of the Ukrainian capital to refrain from approaching military and administrative infrastructure facilities belonging to the Zelensky regime.

[00:18:49]All the objectives of the Special Military Operation will be achieved.

[00:18:52]The neo-Nazis who are spreading terror and chaos across this long-suffering land will be destroyed. Thank you.