Death toll rises to 21 in attack on student dormitory in Ukraine
The death toll from a drone attack on a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine has risen to 21, according to the Russian state agency RIA.
Many of the victims are young women, Russian officials said after a UN debate on the incident.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered his armed forces to prepare retaliatory options against Ukraine, after Moscow accused Kiev of what it described as a deliberate drone attack on a teacher training college in the city of Starobilsk.
Ukraine's armed forces have denied responsibility for the attack, saying they targeted an elite drone commando unit in the area and that their forces complied with international humanitarian law. Putin stated that there were no military installations in the region.
Reuters was unable to independently verify what happened.
On Saturday (23), at the scene of the accident, a crane was working to remove the rubble from a huge opening in the building. Inside a destroyed classroom, bricks and dust covered rows of student desks with the phrase "I love English" written on the wall.
Classroom destroyed by Russian attack on Ukrainian student dormitory
In another location, a staircase was blocked by debris.
Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Russian-installed administration in the region, published a preliminary list with details of the 18 victims. The majority were female and the youngest had just turned 18. He also published a list of 41 injured people, the youngest being 15 years old.
A local resident said rockets hit a former military base and drones then hit the student dormitory, causing fires.
At an emergency UN Security Council meeting convened by Russia on Friday (22), Russia accused Ukraine of war crimes in relation to the incident, while Ukraine said it was an unfounded allegation that had not been independently verified.
Several countries have requested access to the site, while UN officials have condemned all attacks on civilians, recalling the Russian missile attack on a UN depot in Ukraine this week that killed two workers and destroyed $1 million in humanitarian aid.
Putin orders retaliation after attack on student dormitory with 16 dead | NOW CNN
Source: CNN