Drone attack destroys Luhansk college dormitory, 21 dead
May 25, 2026
Kiev [Ukraine], May 25: Forensic experts on Sunday sifted through the ruins of a dormitory largely destroyed in what Russian authorities say was a Ukrainian drone attack in Ukraine's Luhansk region, seized and placed Russian control in the four-year-old war.
Authorities said search operations concluded late on Saturday and put the death toll in the strike on the teacher training college at 21, many of them young women.
Forensic experts on Sunday sifted through the ruins of a dormitory largely destroyed in what Russian authorities say was a Ukrainian drone attack in Ukraine's Luhansk region, seized and placed Russian control in the four-year-old war.
Authorities said search operations concluded late on Saturday and put the death toll in the strike on the teacher training college at 21, many of them young women.
Reuters was not able to independently verify what happened.
"Three waves of (drones) 10-15 minutes apart," Russia's Human Rights Commissioner, Yana Lantratova, told journalists outside the wrecked building as a group of people held up photos of those killed.
"Sixteen UAVs in total. They waited for the children to run out. They fired directly at the children."
The facility in the east of Ukraine's Luhansk region, annexed by Russia several months after the Kremlin's February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour, was adorned with official Russian state symbols.
A set of instructions on how to act against "the threat of terrorism" was posted on one wall.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to prepare options for retaliation against Ukraine after the attack.
Within a little more than 24 hours, early on Sunday, Russia struck Kyiv and surrounding areas with hundreds of drones and missiles in one of the heaviest bombardments of the city since the start of the war.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
