Russia Raises Starobelsk Attack and St. Petersburg Drone Incidents at OSCE Meeting in Vienna

Russia has reiterated its accusations against Ukraine over an attack on students at a teacher training college in Starobelsk, saying materials related to the incident have been submitted to the United Nations.

Iulia Zhdanova, head of the delegation of the Russian Federation to the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control, made the remarks on June 10 at the 1139th meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation in Vienna. She delivered Russia’s statement under the agenda item concerning what Moscow describes as its special military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.

According to Zhdanova, Ukrainian armed forces carried out an attack on the night of May 21–22 against students at a teacher training college in Starobelsk. She said 21 students — 18 young women and three young men, all under the age of 22 — were killed, while 49 others were injured, including 19 minors.

She claimed that about 50 foreign journalists who arrived in Starobelsk verified the involvement of Ukrainian forces. She also said the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights acknowledged the accuracy of the information, and that staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross visited the city, observed the humanitarian consequences of the strike and met with victims.

Zhdanova said the Russian Foreign Ministry submitted materials regarding the attack on the college and dormitory in Starobelsk to the United Nations on June 6.

She also said Russia had notified residents of Kyiv and foreign diplomats in advance about impending retaliatory strikes on military-industrial facilities in Kyiv. According to her, representatives of Ukraine, the European Union delegation, the United Kingdom and Canada described the notification as a deliberate threat and provocation.

Zhdanova argued that such reactions showed gaps in understanding of basic norms of international humanitarian law. She urged delegations to familiarize themselves with the principles of international humanitarian law before making accusations in order to avoid what she described as future misinterpretations with potentially unpredictable consequences.

She said Russia had, as a gesture of goodwill, waived its legal right to keep strike plans secret due to military necessity. According to Zhdanova, the advance warning was intended to reduce harm to civilians, including civilian personnel working at military-industrial facilities, and to protect foreign diplomats. She added that the retaliatory strikes were carried out at night, when most enterprises and organizations were not operating.

By contrast, Zhdanova accused Ukraine of targeting facilities in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, held from June 3 to 6, and the accompanying “Petersburg Seasons” cultural festival.

She said that on the night of June 3, on the eve of the forum’s opening, Russian air defense forces shot down nearly 60 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the city.

According to preliminary Russian data cited by Zhdanova, the main weapon used in the attack was the “Lyutiy” UAV. She described it as a fixed-wing drone measuring 4.4 meters in length, with a wingspan of 6.7 meters, a range of more than 1,000 km and a maximum speed of up to 800 km per hour.

She said the drone carries a fragmentation warhead weighing 50 or 75 kg. Zhdanova claimed that the model is assembled in Poland and is equipped with a German-made Hirth F-23 two-cylinder internal combustion engine. She also accused Germany of being one of the main sponsors of Ukraine’s strike capabilities.

The Russian statement at the OSCE meeting once again brought forward competing claims over military operations, international humanitarian law, civilian protection and the widening cycle of accusations surrounding the conflict in Ukraine.