Putin Vows Response to Strike in Occupied Luhansk

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed retaliation after accusing Ukraine of carrying out a deadly drone strike on a student dormitory in the Russian-occupied town of Starobilsk in eastern Ukraine.

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Speaking at a reception at the Kremlin on Friday, Putin said six people were killed and 39 injured in the overnight attack in the occupied Luhansk region. He added that another 15 people were missing following the strike.

Moscow said the building targeted was a student dormitory and denied claims that military facilities were located nearby.

“There are no military facilities, intelligence service facilities, or related services in the vicinity,” Putin said. He also rejected suggestions that the damage may have been caused by Russian air defence systems or electronic warfare equipment.

The Russian leader said the attack had been carried out in three waves using 16 drones and instructed the military to prepare proposals for a response.

Ukraine claims military target

Ukraine’s military later confirmed carrying out a strike in Starobilsk, saying it had targeted the headquarters of Russia’s elite Rubicon drone unit. Kyiv did not specify whether the military site was located in the same building identified by Russian authorities as a dormitory.

In a statement, Ukraine accused Rubicon personnel of repeatedly attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure inside Ukraine.

The military said Ukrainian forces were striking “military infrastructure and facilities used for military purposes” while adhering to international humanitarian law and the laws of war.

Russian state television broadcast footage of what it said was one of the injured students, identifying her as 19-year-old Diana Shovkun. Reports said she suffered head injuries after being struck by falling concrete during the collapse of part of the building.

No images or videos of the people Moscow said were killed were publicly released.

Escalating strikes

The reported attack came amid continuing cross-border drone and missile strikes by both sides in the war, now in its fourth year since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had struck the headquarters of Russia’s FSB security service in occupied parts of the southern Kherson region.

Zelensky claimed around 100 Russian personnel had been killed or wounded in the operation.

Russia’s defence ministry has not commented on the reported Kherson strike, although a pro-Kremlin Telegram channel reported casualties after what it described as a “massive drone strike”.

Civilian casualties remain a major point of dispute between Moscow and Kyiv.

Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians and residential areas during the war, allegations the Kremlin denies.

Last week, Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile strike on a high-rise residential building in Kyiv killed 24 people, including three girls.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 23 May 2026

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