Ukrainian Drone Attack Kills Four, Injures 35 Children in Luhansk Dormitory
Details of the Luhansk Dormitory Attack
Casualties and Immediate Aftermath
MOSCOW, May 22 (Reuters) - At least four people were killed and 35 children were wounded in an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on a student dormitory in Russian-controlled Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, Russian officials said on Friday.
Verification and Ukrainian Response
Reuters was not able to immediately verify what happened independently and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which is fighting to try to return Luhansk, one of four regions Russia unilaterally claimed as its own in 2022 in what Kyiv said was an illegal land grab.
Statements from Russian Officials
Account from Russia's Human Rights Commissioner
Yana Lantratova, the Russia's Human Rights Commissioner, said that 86 teenagers aged between 14 to 18 had been sleeping inside Luhansk Pedagogical University's Starobilsk college when Ukrainian drones attacked it.
Allegations of Targeted Strike
"The Ukrainian armed forces carried out a targeted strike on sleeping children," Lantratova said in a statement.
Rescue Efforts and Ongoing Search
Leonid Pasechnik, the top Russia-installed official in Luhansk, said two people had been pulled from the rubble and that rescue workers were still looking for children trapped beneath the debris.
Visual Evidence and Media Coverage
Photo and video released by the Russian authorities showed rescue workers stretchering one man out of the rubble, severely damaged buildings, one of which appeared to have partially collapsed, and fires still burning.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
