Translated material
War
1550th day. A blow to the college in Starobelsk. 11 people died. Putin blamed the “Kyiv regime” for the terrorist attack and threatened with a response
Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters every day because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are increasingly launching attacks on Russian cities. Perm, Tuapse, Cheboksary, Ryazan, Moscow - it seems that tomorrow drones can fly absolutely anywhere in Russia. What difference has this made in your life? Has the war become closer to you personally? Are you afraid for yourself and your loved ones? Do you think that attitudes towards war in the country are changing - and how? The feedback form is at the end of this article. A review of the previous day can be read here .
Vladimir Putin yesterday accused the Ukrainian armed forces of a “terrorist attack” on the educational building and student dormitory of the pedagogical college in Starobelsk. This city is located in the Russian-controlled part of the Lugansk region.
The head of the self-proclaimed LPR, Leonid Pasechnik, said that as a result of the strike on the night of May 22, 11 people were killed and another 41 were injured. Ten students are reported missing. According to official data, there were 86 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18 in the school at the time of the strike.
The President of the Russian Federation stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ attack on the college was not accidental, since “it occurred in three waves, 16 UAVs, in the same place.” According to him, there were no military facilities near the hostel. “Therefore, there is no reason to say that the shells hit the building under the influence of our air defense and electronic warfare systems. No one can say that they tried to hit some object, but the UAVs were shot down by our own means and allegedly accidentally hit this building,” Putin said.
He instructed the Russian Ministry of Defense to “present its proposals” on how to respond to this attack. On the evening of May 22, Putin also held an operational meeting of the Russian Security Council, which began with a discussion of the strike on Starobelsk.
The president’s theses on Friday at a meeting of the UN Security Council were repeated by the permanent representative of the Russian Federation Vasily Nebenzya. He called on Western countries to condemn the attack on the college in Starobelsk. According to him, such strikes by the Ukrainian Armed Forces are carried out thanks to NATO countries, which supply Kyiv with long-range weapons and help with reconnaissance and targeting.
Representatives of some Western countries, including Britain, Denmark and Latvia, said that reports of the strike on Starobelsk were likely disinformation because they could not be independently confirmed and verified. Ukraine's permanent representative to the UN, Andriy Melnyk, called Nebenzi's speech "a pure propaganda show."
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, invited foreign media journalists accredited in Moscow to “visit the site of the tragedy.”
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the evening of May 22 called the Kremlin’s statements that the Ukrainian military carried out strikes on civilian targets in territories annexed by Russia “manipulative.”
“The armed forces of Ukraine carry out attacks on military infrastructure and facilities used for military purposes, strictly observing the norms of international humanitarian law, the laws and customs of war,” the statement said .
At the same time, the Ukrainian General Staff admitted that on the night of May 22, the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck “a number of targets of the Russian aggressor.” Among them are an oil refinery, ammunition depots, air defense systems, command posts, including “one of the headquarters of the Rubicon unit in the area of the city of Starobelsk.”
As noted in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, “Rubicon” is a secret unit of the Russian Ministry of Defense that specializes in drones and regularly attacks civilians and civilian objects in Ukraine.
War in photographs. Slavyansk
In 2014, the capture of Slavyansk by pro-Russian separatists led to the outbreak of the war in Donbass. The battles for the city lasted three months, eventually returning to Ukrainian control.
In the spring of 2026, the capture of Slavyansk remains a key military-political goal for the Russian army and the Kremlin. As reported in Meduza's latest military report , the offensive stalled due to successful tactical counterattacks by Ukrainian troops. This is what's happening in the city right now.
War through the eyes of Meduza readers
How we choose letters
Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.
Evgeniya (St. Petersburg) . I'm not afraid [of flights]. Everything that is happening now with arrivals and explosions on the territory of the Russian Federation is quite natural and expected. We started the war, now we are paying the price. It was naive to think that “it won’t come to us.” I feel very sorry for the people - both in Russia and in Ukraine. It is unbearable to know that people are constantly suffering and dying, and not be able to influence what is happening. The feeling of powerlessness and bitterness at what my country has become are the main emotions during these four years, a source of constant stress. However, it is much harder for the residents of Ukraine and the border territories of Russia; they have no time for reflection, it is a question of survival. And human life in our post-empire is cheaper than a penny, both with us and with them.
It hurts to the point of tears. I wrote here out of helplessness and hopelessness. There is absolutely no one to talk to about this; friends either support the SVO, or have left, or have isolated themselves from reality in order to “live their own lives.” I am no longer young at all and not very healthy, but I really want to live to see the end of this madness, no matter how it ends.