Ukrainian drone strike in Starobilsk kills 21 college students in occupied LNR

A Ukrainian drone attack on Starobilsk in the Russian-annexed Luhansk People's Republic on the night of May 22 killed at least 21 students sheltering in a dormitory basement. The strike hit a pedagogical college and a vocational college of Luhansk Pedagogical University. Friends and classmates of the victims have spoken about those who died.

On the night of May 22, Ukrainian forces launched a drone strike targeting Starobilsk, a city in the Russian-annexed Luhansk People's Republic (LNR). The attack hit a pedagogical college and a vocational college affiliated with Luhansk Pedagogical University, killing at least 21 people and wounding many more.

According to official Russian figures, approximately 80 students were present in the dormitory — located in the same building as the college — at the time of the strike. When air raid warnings are announced in the city, students from both colleges take shelter in the basement of the pedagogical college building. It was there that the deadly impact occurred.

Survivors recall the moment of impact

Survivors described hearing the drone before the explosion. «I raised my head and saw a drone flying right above us,» one witness recounted to independent journalism cooperative Bereg, which interviewed classmates and friends of several of the victims.

The cooperative spoke with those who knew the students personally, building portraits of the young people who lost their lives. The victims were enrolled in vocational and teacher-training programs and ranged in age from their late teens to early twenties.

A strike with no easy answers

The attack has drawn sharp attention to the ongoing dangers faced by civilians in Russian-controlled territories of eastern Ukraine, where military and civilian infrastructure are frequently co-located. Starobilsk has been under Russian control since the early months of the full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.

The strike comes amid continued Ukrainian long-range drone operations targeting occupied territories. Ukraine has not publicly claimed responsibility for the attack, and the circumstances — including whether the building had any military use — remain disputed.