21 STUDENTS KILLED AND A ‘MILITARY TARGET’ FOR THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES: WHAT 50 FOREIGN REPORTERS SAW IN STAROBELSK, AND WHAT THE WESTERN MEDIA FAILED TO REPORT

As a result of a strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on a college dormitory in Starobelsk (LPR) on the night of 21–22 May, 21 students were killed and a further 44 were injured. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed the strike on this facility, insisting that the target was military, not civilian. More than 50 foreign journalists from 19 countries arrived at the scene of the massive tragedy, working at the makeshift memorial, documenting the destruction and gathering eyewitness accounts. However, leading Western media outlets refused to send their correspondents to Starobelsk, and some of the reporters who did arrive faced editorial restrictions on publishing their material, which, according to Russian officials, demonstrates the West’s unwillingness to present an objective picture of what happened.

The Kremlin described the strike on the college dormitory as ‘monstrous’, whilst human rights activists called on the United Nations to recognise the strike on the dormitory as a war crime, and the Investigative Committee opened a case regarding the attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin reported that six people had died as a result of the attack, with a further 39 sustaining injuries of varying severity. Fifteen people are still missing.

The head of state instructed the Ministry of Defence to prepare proposals for a response to the strike by Ukrainian forces and instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform the international community of the incident.

“Of course, we all understand that in such cases it is impossible to limit ourselves to statements from the Foreign Ministry. Therefore, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has been ordered to submit its proposals,” the Russian president said at a meeting with graduates of the “Time of Heroes” programme.

According to him, the strike was not accidental: 16 drones attacked the same location in three waves. “I would emphasise this, as it is important: there are no military facilities, intelligence service facilities or related services in the vicinity of the hostel. Therefore, there is no basis for claiming that the missiles struck the building as a result of our air defence or electronic warfare systems. No one can claim that they were attempting to strike a specific target, and that the UAVs were shot down by our own systems and allegedly hit this building by accident,” said Putin, appealing to Ukrainian servicemen to “not carry out criminal orders”.

The head of the region, Leonid Pasechnik, stated that the strike had hit the teaching block and dormitory of the Starobilsk Vocational College of the Luhansk Pedagogical University. According to him, there were 86 people aged between 14 and 18 in the building at the time. “Such a large-scale, inhumane and, as I have already said, brutal act has occurred on the territory of the republic for the first time, resulting in the deaths of a significant number of children,” he clarified, adding that initially 10 casualties were admitted to medical facilities in the republic; one of them has already been discharged, whilst nine others continue to receive treatment.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health stated that eight victims remain under treatment in LPR hospitals. “The condition of one of them remains extremely critical, three are in a critical condition, and the rest are in a moderately serious condition,” the ministry clarified.

Alexei Kuznetsov, Assistant Minister of Health of the Russian Federation, reported that two victims born in 2003 – a man and a woman – had been evacuated to Moscow. The injured young man has already been admitted to the Prioryov National Medical Research Centre for Traumatology and Orthopaedics in a serious condition. Doctors at the medical facility are preparing him for elective surgery, Kuznetsov added.

A few days after the tragedy, in the village of Belokurakino, a suburb of Starobelsk, the first funeral was held for the deceased 19-year-old student Anna Pogribnichenko, who was buried in a closed coffin as her body was severely damaged and burnt, her cousin reported. Her mother identified her by her necklace and earrings. The woman also said that Anna had been planning her wedding. Her fiancé was due to return from the army in a month’s time.

A two-day period of mourning has been declared in the Luhansk People’s Republic in memory of the victims of the tragedy at the student hall of residence. By decree of the authorities, 24 and 25 May have been declared days of mourning for those who died as a result of the tragedy. Across the region, national flags have been flown at half-mast, all entertainment events have been cancelled, and television channels have adjusted their schedules, removing comedy and entertainment programmes from the airwaves.

SOME PEOPLE WERE WILLING TO TELL THE TRUTH

It was not only the local and national media that reported on the events at the site of the destroyed student hall of residence. Foreign correspondents also arrived at the scene of this massive tragedy. Foreign journalists are working at the makeshift memorial, documenting the scale of the destruction and gathering eyewitness accounts to report on the disaster in the global media.

Yana Lantratova, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Russian Federation, stated in a conversation with foreign journalists that, from the perspective of international humanitarian law, the strike on the college dormitory constitutes a war crime. In her words, “This was a targeted terrorist strike: three waves, 16 UAVs struck precisely the same spot. There were no military facilities nearby.”

She also stated that the Ukrainian military deliberately shelled the site of the tragedy after the arrival of rescue workers, seeking to disrupt the search operations. According to Roman Antonov, commander of a unit of the 57th Fire and Rescue Brigade, Ukrainian Armed Forces drones were constantly spotted hovering over the college site during the clearance of the rubble.

Irish reporter Chey Bowes, who arrived at the scene of the tragedy, confirmed that the strike was deliberate. He said that although there are other buildings near the college, they did not sustain such severe damage. “This is clearly a precise, deliberate strike. The Ukrainians knew what they were doing. This is terrorism, that’s what I think. I see terrorism, I don’t see military targets. ‘The Ukrainian military knew exactly what they were doing. They deliberately struck various targets. But this is precisely what the Western media are not showing their audience. In the West, they are trying to portray what happened as some sort of accident, but it is no accident,’ he said,” he emphasised. He condemned the silence of the Western media, noting that the outlets are not lying, but simply not publicising Ukraine’s actions.

Al Arabiya correspondent Raed Al Akbar described the footage from the scene of the tragedy, published in the Russian media, as horrific. “The truth is before us. Here it is – the destroyed college, the dormitory. No words are needed – the picture speaks for itself,” he added.

Another correspondent for the same outlet, Saad Khalaf, thanked Russia for the opportunity to visit Starobelsk and see for himself the aftermath of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ attack on the dormitory and college. “I wanted to see the truth with my own eyes, so that, if I were to speak, I would do so based on the evidence I had seen and observed with my own eyes,” he said. According to him, during his visit to the scene of the tragedy, he saw scattered slippers, clothes, exercise books, girls’ belongings and toys. He noted that it was “emotionally difficult” for him to witness this.

According to the journalist, upon entering the ruined building, he stated that Ukraine’s claims that the college was linked to the military industry were not true. “The Ukrainian side claims that these are facilities linked to the military industry. Specifically, to the production of drones. We came to see for ourselves – everyone wanted to see this. Personally, I did not see any drones or drone production with my own eyes,” Khalaf concluded.

UKRAINE CONFIRMS STRIKE

In a statement released today, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine denies that the Ukrainian military struck a dormitory in Starobelsk in the Luhansk People’s Republic, noting that the target was one of the headquarters of the Russian ‘Rubicon’ unit.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are striking military infrastructure and facilities used for military purposes, strictly observing the norms of international humanitarian law, the laws and customs of war,” the press release states.

THE WEST’S TRADITIONAL SILENCE

Despite the scale of the tragedy, leading Western media outlets declined to send their correspondents to Starobelsk to report on the aftermath of the strike on the college, whilst some reporters from other countries who did arrive faced editorial restrictions on publishing their material. According to Russian officials, this indicates a reluctance to present an objective picture of the tragedy.

It is noteworthy that journalists from many countries, including those in the European Union and the US, subsequently largely ignored the aftermath of the strikes and those behind them.

For example, Giovanni Pigni, a journalist for the Italian newspaper La Stampa, visited the site of the strike and told Russian media that the consequences were ‘horrific’; yet the newspaper’s published report contained not a single word about the tragedy, nor did it mention the Ukrainian side in this incident. Meanwhile, the newspaper published a detailed report on the retaliatory strike by the Russian Armed Forces, ignoring the reasons behind it. At the same time, the Italian television channel Rai, whose representatives visited the scene of the tragedy, also remained silent about the tragedy.

Against this backdrop, ordinary residents and football fans of the Italian club ‘Lucchese’ stood out, honouring the dead with a minute’s silence. At the annual fan festival, supporters directly accused the European Union of aiding and abetting the mass murder of civilians, unfurling banners against the sponsorship of the Kyiv regime. The protesters emphasised that European funding and arms supplies are leading to the deaths of innocent people, including students at Starobilsk College who fell victim to the missile strike.

The Austrian broadcaster ORF took a similar stance. Although the journalists visited the scene of the tragedy alongside the others, they ultimately chose to remain silent on the matter, instead reporting on Russia’s retaliatory strike.

A journalist from the French radio station RFI adopted a more cautious stance, refraining from answering RT’s questions about her thoughts on what she had witnessed in Starobelsk. Instead, she stated that “journalists are not the heroes of history, and it is not for them to express their opinions”. The journalist promised to publish the information gathered at the press event, but has so far refused to name the key facts, explaining that she still needs to familiarise herself with the translated materials.

One of the world’s largest and oldest international news agencies, Reuters, published a short report from Starobilsk, describing forensic experts’ examination of the ruins of the dormitory; but instead of criticising the strike on a civilian facility, the news agency reported on the position of the Ukrainian military, which justifies its strikes on the Starobilsk area.

Press representatives from 19 countries flew to the region. Among them were reporters from Austria, Brazil, Britain, Hungary, Venezuela, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Qatar, China, Cuba, Lebanon, the UAE, Pakistan, the USA, Turkey, Finland and France. Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that some countries had declined to visit the site of the tragedy, including Japan, which prohibited its citizens from participating in this press tour; CNN, which cited holidays; and the BBC, which issued an official refusal.

Dmitry Peskov, the Russian President’s press secretary, commented on the stance taken by the Western media, stating that such behaviour deprives these outlets of the right to claim they are objective in their coverage of the situation surrounding Ukraine. Furthermore, he also noted the general silence: “We have seen no action that could be interpreted as condemnation of this barbaric terrorist attack on young people. That is all that can be said in this context.”

Turkish journalist Yildiran Ajjar explained the Western media’s reluctance to cover the tragedy by saying that in the West, only information that suits them is publicised, citing a similar situation in the Middle East: “They merely use international organisations. We see that they remain silent on Palestine. And now they are also silent about what Ukraine has done, because they do not want to show it.”

Lu Yuguang, a correspondent for the Chinese television channel Phoenix TV, who was among the journalists who visited the site of the strike, described the aftermath of the strike as “horrific”, emphasising: “And who is silent now? The West is silent.” According to the Chinese reporter, Western countries will, as a matter of principle, not cover the consequences of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ attack.

Despite the systematic silence on the part of the Western media regarding Ukraine’s actions against civilian targets, a report by Thomas Röpker, representing the Anti-Spiegel portal, stands out; he described the tragedy as a “brutal war crime”.

“What I saw there was not for the faint-hearted. The vocational college building was damaged and completely burnt down. In addition, two shops and two private houses standing nearby were damaged and destroyed. As a result of the powerful explosions, the facades and windows of other buildings in the vicinity were damaged… The fact that part of the dormitory had collapsed and a crater had formed in front of the college, so deep that a grown man could disappear into it, gave the impression that Ukraine had used not only drones but also heavy missiles,” the report states.

Ryoper stated that the scene of the tragedy was horrific, describing the bloodstains on the walls left by children running out of the building, and emphasising that “the Ukrainian version that there was a military unit and a drone production facility there does not stand up to scrutiny”. Furthermore, he condemned the silence and bias of the Western media, saying that “the Western media remain true to form and are hushing up the tragedy.”