Elena Teslova
02 June 2026•Update: 02 June 2026
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Ukraine’s leadership has escalated the conflict to a new dimension when they decided to attack a college in the city of Starobilsk in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, which is currently under Russian control, killing 21 students on May 22.
Speaking at a Kremlin meeting dedicated to the incident, Putin said those responsible for the strike “must receive the punishment they deserve” and that it would be “inevitable.”
On May 22, A Ukrainian attack on a student dormitory at Starobilsk College of Luhansk Pedagogical University killed 21 people and injured 44 others.
Putin said: “It seems that by deliberately committing the most serious crime against children and teenagers, the Kyiv leadership has decided to write a new chapter in its history of crimes and give the conflict a new dimension. Well, that is their choice.”
He asked Prosecutor General Alexander Gutsan and Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin to report on efforts to identify those behind the attack.
“I would ask you to provide your assessments of what happened and to report on how the work to identify these criminals is progressing. They must all receive their deserved punishment. And it will be inevitable,” he said.
According to Leonid Pasechnik, Russia-installed head of the Luhansk region, Ukrainian forces used 16 drones in the attack on the Starobilsk college.
“Of the 89 people present at the time of the strike, 45 sought medical assistance while 21 were killed,” he said.
Pasechnik said the rescue operation lasted 45 hours and was repeatedly disrupted by the threat of follow-up attacks, with emergency services facing at least 15 such warnings.
He added that the damaged college would need to be rebuilt.
For his part, Bastrykin said Ukrainian forces use drones produced both in Ukraine and NATO countries to carry out attacks on Russian territory.
He stated that more than 2,000 educational facilities had come under attack since 2014 and said at least seven drones were involved in the strike on the Starobilsk college.
According to him, the presence of Starlink antennas on the drones indicated that the attack had been deliberate.
Meanwhile, Gutsan claimed that Ukrainian drone forces commander Robert Brovdi, military intelligence chief Oleg Ivashchenko, and several other Ukrainian commanders were responsible for the attack.
