Russian Federation on the strike on the college in Starobelsk - Press Conference | United Nations

Press conference by Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, regarding the strike on the college in Starobelsk. Following the 22 May drone attack on a student dormitory and educational buildings in Starobelsk, Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told journalists in New York that Russian investigative authorities have opened a criminal case on charges of terrorism, and said, “all those responsible will be identified and will face inevitable and severe punishment.” Nebenzya said “86 students aged 14 to 19 were among - with one staff member - were living in the dormitory,” stressing that “these were children and teenagers. They were not on the front line.” According to the latest reports, he said, “21 people, mostly young girls, were killed and 63 students were injured in this horrific attack.” The Russian Ambassador said, “the deliberate nature of the attack is further confirmed by the fact that 16 UAVs targeted the same location in three successive waves, causing the five-storey dormitory building to collapse down to the second floor. Yet another glaring manifestation of the Nazi and terrorist character of the Kyiv regime, which does not hesitate to kill minors in cold blood.” Starobelsk is located in Luhansk Oblast, in eastern Ukraine. The city is under Russian control. Nebenzia said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “is exterminating his former fellow citizens for refusing to live under his neo-Nazi rule,” adding, “how can he hypocritically argue that people matter more than territories when he is responsible for such terrorist attacks?” He insisted the Russian Federation does not “target civilians deliberately. Unlike what the Ukrainian armed forces are doing, not just in Starobelsk, which we are discussing today, but they were doing that on a regular basis. Even before that.” According to news reports, Ukraine admits striking a military site in Starobelsk on 22 May but denies striking any civilian infrastructure.


For more information or to watch video on YouTube, click here!