Putin Orders Retaliation After Deadly Attack on Luhansk Vocational School, Russia Requests UN Security Council Meeting

May 22, 2026

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered retaliation after a Ukrainian drone attack killed six and injured 39 at a vocational school in occupied Starobilsk. Russia, which requested a UN Security Council meeting, calls the attack a "monstrous crime," stating 16 drones hit a civilian dorm. Ukraine's military denies this, claiming it targeted the headquarters of Russia's elite Rubicon drone unit in the area.

Starobilsk dormitory attack

▪The targeted hostel belonged to Luhansk Pedagogical University's Starobilsk college, and the top three of its five floors were destroyed.
▪An overnight drone attack on May 22, 2026, struck a vocational school and student dormitory in Starobilsk, a Russian-controlled city in Ukraine's Luhansk region.
▪According to Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova, 86 teenagers aged 14 to 18 were inside the hostel during the attack.
▪Russian President Vladimir Putin said the attack was carried out in three waves using 16 drones.

Putin retaliation order

▪Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to prepare proposals for how to retaliate against Ukraine for the attack.
▪President Vladimir Putin asserted there were no military facilities in the vicinity of the dormitory.

Casualty figures

▪The attack killed six people and injured at least 39.
▪Following the strike, 15 people were reported missing.

Rescue operations

▪Russia's children's rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, said up to 18 children could still be trapped in the rubble.
▪The Russian-installed head of Luhansk, Leonid Pasechnik, said two people had been pulled from the rubble.
▪Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry conducted search operations in the rubble of the destroyed building.

Ukraine denial of targeting

▪Ukraine's military stated its forces adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law.
▪The Ukrainian military accused the Rubicon drone unit of regularly striking civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
▪Ukraine's military stated its strike targeted the headquarters of Russia's elite Rubicon drone military unit in Starobilsk.

Russian diplomatic response

▪Russia's Investigative Committee opened a criminal probe into terrorism following the attack.
▪Russia requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the incident.
▪Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attack as a "monstrous crime."