‘Silence Over Atrocities Against Innocent Children Will Amount to Complicity in Crime’: Russia’s Warning on Starobelsk College Attack

Moscow — The Russian Foreign Ministry has labelled the attack on the college of Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk as “a deliberate attack on civilians, carried out in the spirit of the German Nazis,” and has warned that those responsible will face the most severe punishment.

In a statement issued by the Ministry, it was detailed that on the night of May 22, the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev used four fixed-wing UAVs to carry out a gruesome terrorist attack on the academic building and dormitory of the college in Starobelsk, Lugansk People’s Republic. At the time of the barbaric strike, 86 children aged 14 to 18 were inside the five-storey dormitory building, which collapsed down to the second floor as a result of the attack.

At present, 40 people are known to have been injured, and tragically, four people were killed, the Ministry stated. Rescue operations are underway at the scene, and nearby administrative buildings, residential houses, and social facilities were also damaged. The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case into the terrorist attack.

The statement read, “This strike could not have been accidental. It was a deliberate attack on civilians, carried out in the spirit of the German Nazis. None of those inside the building were or could have been taking part in hostilities, and there are no military facilities near the college.” The Ministry holds that suffering defeats on the battlefield, the Kiev regime is opening a new chapter in the armed conflict by unleashing open, inhuman terror against defenceless children.

The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that long-range weapons supplied to the Kiev regime by NATO countries, including UAVs, are being operated with technical assistance from foreign specialists from certain NATO member states. The Ministry also stated that it has reliable information that Western capitals are providing the AFU with intelligence data and assisting with target designation.

The statement noted that by committing this atrocity against children in Starobelsk, the Kiev regime and its handlers assume full responsibility for the escalation of hostilities and the undermining of political and diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict. Noting that this incident occurred against the backdrop of Kiev’s hypocritical lamentations about the fate of children affected by military actions, the Ministry said, “The entire world has now seen just how cynical Zelensky’s regime is, as it turns children into targets of terror.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its deepest condolences to the families of those killed and wished the injured a speedy recovery. Calling on international organisations, national governments, and the global public to give an honest assessment of the criminal actions of Zelensky’s regime and to resolutely condemn the bloody terrorist attack in Starobelsk, the Ministry warned, “Silence will amount to complicity in the gruesome acts of Kiev’s terrorists and indifference to the fate of innocent children who were killed and injured.”