Ukrainian Drone Strike in Russian-Occupied Starobilsk Kills 18, Injures 42 as Moscow Vows Retaliation
मुख्य बातें
- •A Ukrainian drone strike on a college dormitory in Russian-occupied Starobilsk killed 18 and injured 42, with 60 total casualties reported.
- •Most victims were young women aged 18–23, according to the Moscow-backed regional governor.
- •Russia condemned the attack, ordered military retaliation, and warned of severe consequences for those responsible.
- •Ukraine claimed the strike targeted a Russian drone unit, amid intensified drone warfare on both sides.
Rescue operations are underway in Starobilsk, a Russian-controlled town in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, after a Ukrainian drone strike overnight on May 22–23, 2026, destroyed a college dormitory and killed at least 18 people. The attack, described as one of the deadliest Ukrainian drone barrages in months, also injured 42 others, with some victims still trapped under rubble. Russian officials reported that two more bodies were recovered on May 23, bringing the total number of casualties to 60, including 18 fatalities.
The strike targeted the Starobilsk College of Luhansk Pedagogical University, reducing a section of its five-storey dormitory to ruins. Rescue teams, including personnel from Russia’s Emergency Ministry, were seen sifting through debris as heavy machinery worked to clear the site. According to Moscow-backed regional governor Leonid Pasechnik, most of the victims were young women born between 2003 and 2008. Pasechnik expressed solidarity with the victims’ families in a Telegram message, stating, “The region and the entire country share the fate of these people and the pain of their families.”
