A Ukrainian drone attack has killed at least four people and wounded more than 30 others at a technical college in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, Russian and Kremlin-backed authorities in the occupied territory said Friday.
Leonid Pasechnik, the Russian-installed head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, said dozens of students and faculty were inside the Starobilsk Professional College and its dormitory in the central town of Starobilsk at the time of the attack.
“Thirty-five people sustained injuries of varying severity and are currently receiving the necessary medical care,” Pasechnik wrote in a post on Telegram. “Rescue workers continue to clear the debris.”
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry, which operates in Luhansk and other occupied parts of Ukraine, said first responders retrieved the body of one person, according to the Interfax news agency.
Shortly after, Russia’s newly appointed human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova said four people were killed. Authorities in Luhansk did not immediately provide an updated death count.
Ukraine did not immediately comment on the attack.
The Investigative Committee, Russia’s top investigative body, said Ukraine launched a total of four drones at the technical college. The law enforcement body opened a criminal probe into terrorism following the attack.
Starobilsk has been under Russian control since March 2022, the first full month of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This is a breaking news story. Please come back for more details later.
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