The United Nations voiced alarm on Friday after reports of an overnight attack on a vocational school and dormitory in Starobilsk, in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, where multiple civilians, including children, were said to have been killed and injured. The area is under temporary Russian occupation, and the UN said it could not verify the details of the reported strike because it has no access there.
Ted Chaiban said the attack reportedly left six dead and dozens of others injured, including children, while rescue operations were still underway. He said it was too early to know the full extent of the casualties. Vanessa Frazier said several people could still be trapped beneath the rubble.
The dormitory had reportedly housed at least 86 adolescents aged 14 to 18, a detail that underscores why the report drew such immediate alarm from UN officials. Russia accused Ukraine on Friday of targeting a student dormitory overnight in the occupied Luhansk region, saying the attack reportedly killed six people, including children, and injured dozens. Kyiv denied targeting the civilian building and said it had struck a Russian military drone command headquarters, according to news reports.
The conflicting accounts landed as the Security Council met at Russia’s request on Friday, adding another layer of urgency to a war that has increasingly blurred the line between military and civilian harm. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, UNICEF says more than 3,400 children have been killed or injured in Ukraine, a figure that has made schools, dormitories and shelters among the most vulnerable places in the country.
The Starobilsk reports also came as the UN’s aid arms warned of growing danger to humanitarian work itself. UNHCR said a warehouse it leases in Dnipro was struck by a missile earlier this week during a Russian attack, destroying emergency shelter materials and aid supplies intended for displaced civilians. It was the first such attack on a UNHCR facility since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, the agency said. UNHCR also said two clearly marked UN humanitarian convoys were reportedly struck by drones last week while delivering aid near frontline areas.
Stéphane Dujarric said the UN “strongly condemns any attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur,” and said such attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law and must end immediately. Edem Wosornu said, “The situation is still unfolding and there is much we do not yet know,” but added that “the human cost of this war reveals a pattern that defies international humanitarian law. Civilians must be protected.” With access blocked in occupied areas and casualty figures still unsettled, the latest reports point to a war that is not only continuing to kill children, but is also making the work of getting aid to them more dangerous by the day.
