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Russian permanent representative alleges Ukrainian strike killed students at Starobersk dormitory
Summary
Permanent Representative Vasily Nibenzia said a May 22 strike on a college dormitory in Starobersk killed 21 people and injured 63, called the attack deliberate, announced a Russian criminal case on terrorism charges and criticized the UN Secretariat and Western delegations for their responses.
Vasily Nibenzia, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, told reporters that on May 22 Ukrainian forces launched “a deliberate strike” on a college and student dormitory in Starobersk, in the Luhansk People’s Republic, killing 21 people and injuring 63.
“The target was not a command center, a fortified position, a weapons depot or military barracks, but a civilian facility,” Nibenzia said, calling the victims “children and teenagers” who were asleep at the time of the attack. He said 86 students aged 14 to 19 and one staff member lived in the dormitory.
Nibenzia described what he said was the attack pattern: 16 unmanned aerial vehicles struck the same location in three successive waves, causing the five‑story dormitory to collapse down to the second floor. He said Russian investigative authorities have opened a criminal case on charges of terrorism and vowed that those responsible “will be identified and will face inevitable and severe punishment.”
The ambassador introduced video footage and witness accounts that he said showed the facility was strictly civilian. A moderator read aloud witness descriptions of rescue efforts and survivors, and cited examples of classrooms, bunk beds and children’s toys remaining among the rubble.
At the United Nations Security Council meeting convened at Russia’s request, Nibenzia said he encountered what he described as routine Western skepticism and accused some delegations of denying the incident’s facts. “The cynicism displayed by certain Western delegations was really staggering,” he said, and singled out comments from the representatives of Denmark and Latvia as illustrative of what he called moral decline in European diplomacy.
Nibenzia said Russia had invited more than 50 foreign journalists from 19 countries to visit the site and that some who attended, he asserted, confirmed the Russian presentation; he also said some Western outlets declined the invitation. He urged a factual, objective assessment and said Russia was prepared to provide additional materials to the UN Secretariat.
The press conference combined the ambassador’s account of casualties and investigation plans with appeals to international colleagues to examine the site. It closed with Nibenzia repeating that Russia will seek to establish the full circumstances of the incident and to hold those it deems responsible to account.
