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<\/p>\nRussian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of a “terrorist strike” on a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region.<\/p>\n
At least six people were killed in the attack, according to Mr Putin, who also said 39 people were injured and 15 reported missing.<\/p>\n
“There are no military facilities, intelligence service facilities, or related services in the vicinity,” Mr Putin said.<\/p>\n
“Therefore, there is absolutely no basis for claiming that the munitions struck the building as a result of our air defence or electronic warfare systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The strike was not accidental.”<\/p>\n
Luhansk is in east Ukraine, but is almost entirely occupied by Russia, which claims the region as its own after capturing the town.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A destroyed building of the Starobilsk College of Luhansk Pedagogical University. (Reuters: Pavel Klimov)<\/p>\n
As emergency teams continued to search for people through the rubble, Mr Putin said he had asked his army to prepare options for retaliation.<\/p>\n
He described the incident as a terrorist attack, accusing Ukraine of intentionally targeting civilians.<\/p>\n
Moscow-installed governor Leonid Pasechnik said in a social media post that “enemy drones attacked the academic building and dormitory”. \u00a0<\/p>\n
“At the time of the strike, 86 children aged 14 to 18 were there,” he said.<\/p>\n
“All those responsible will be identified and will face inevitable and severe punishment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“There will be no leniency.”<\/p>\n
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attack as a “heinous crime”.<\/p>\n
But Ukraine’s military described the comments from Russia as manipulation, saying it hit a drone command unit in Starobilsk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ukraine, which denies targeting civilians, regularly fires drones at Russian-controlled areas in retaliation for mass Russian strikes on its own people.<\/p>\n
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has recorded more than 60,000 civilian casualties since 2022, almost 90 per cent of which were in areas controlled by Ukraine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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