MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed retaliation after accusing Ukraine of carrying out a deadly drone strike on a student dormitory in the occupied eastern Ukrainian town of Starobilsk.
According to Russian authorities, six people were killed and 39 injured in the overnight attack in the Luhansk region, while another 15 people remained missing under the rubble.
Putin said the strike was carried out in three waves using 16 drones and rejected suggestions that the damage may have been caused by Russian air defence systems.
“There are no military facilities, intelligence service facilities, or related services in the vicinity,” Putin said during remarks at the Kremlin, adding that he had instructed Russia’s military to prepare proposals for retaliation.
Ukraine’s military confirmed conducting a strike in Starobilsk but said the target was the headquarters of Russia’s elite Rubicon drone military unit, which Kyiv accused of carrying out repeated attacks on civilians and infrastructure inside Ukraine.
Student dormitory
Ukrainian officials did not confirm whether the targeted building was the same site identified by Russia as a student dormitory.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported further drone-related incidents overnight, including a fire at an oil depot in the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk after falling drone debris struck technical buildings. Two people were reported injured.
The latest escalation comes amid intensifying cross-border drone warfare between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides accusing each other of targeting civilian areas during the ongoing conflict.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Ukrainian forces had struck the headquarters of Russia’s FSB security service in occupied Kherson, reportedly causing significant casualties.
