⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry Statement on the AFU strike on the college of Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk (May 22, 2026)

On the night of May 22, the Kiev neo-Nazi regime used four fixed-wing UAVs to carry out a gruesome terrorist attack on the academic building and dormitory of the college of Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk, LPR.

At the time of the barbaric strike, 86 children aged 14 to 18 were inside the five-storey dormitory building, which collapsed down to the second floor as a result of the attack.

At present, 40 people are known to have been injured. Tragically, four people were killed. Rescue operations are underway at the scene. Nearby administrative buildings, residential houses and social facilities were also damaged.

The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case into the terrorist attack.

👉 All those responsible will be identified and face inevitable severe punishment. None of the perpetrators will be shown mercy.

This strike could not have been accidental. It was a deliberate attack on civilians, carried out in the spirit of the German Nazis. None of those inside the building were or could have been taking part in hostilities, and there are no military facilities near the college.

Suffering defeats on the battlefield, the Kiev regime is opening a new chapter in the armed conflict by unleashing open, inhuman terror against defenceless children.

Such strikes using long-range weapons supplied to the Kiev regime by NATO countries, including UAVs, are carried out with technical assistance from foreign specialists from certain NATO countries. We have reliable information that Western capitals are providing the AFU with intelligence data and assisting with target designation.

By committing this atrocity against children in Starobelsk, the Kiev regime and its handlers assume full responsibility for the escalation of hostilities and the undermining of political and diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.

This happened against the backdrop of Kiev’s hypocritical lamentations about the fate of children affected by military actions. The entire world has now seen just how cynical Zelensky’s regime is, as it turns children into targets of terror.

◼️ We express our deepest condolences to the families of those killed and wish the injured a speedy recovery.

We call on international organisations, national governments and the global public to give an honest assessment of the criminal actions of Zelensky’s regime and to resolutely condemn the bloody terrorist attack in Starobelsk.

Silence will amount to complicity in the gruesome acts of Kiev’s terrorists and indifference to the fate of innocent children who were killed and injured.

🎙 President of Russia Vladimir Putin's statement on the terrorist attack by the Kiev regime on the Starobelsk Pedagogical College (May 22, 2026)

The statement was made during President of Russia Vladimir Putin’s meeting with graduates of the first cohort of the Time of Heroes educational programme.

💬 On May 22, the neo-Nazi regime that seized power in Kiev carried out a terrorist attack on the student dormitory of the Starobelsk Pedagogical College. At night, while the students were asleep.

According to the reports I have been receiving throughout this time, as of now, six people have been killed, 39 injured, and 15 are listed as missing, as debris removal continues. We will, of course, do everything to help the victims and the families of those killed.

I want to stress – this is important – that there are no military facilities, no intelligence or related service facilities near the dormitory. Therefore, there are no grounds whatsoever to claim that the projectiles hit the building as a result of our air defence or electronic warfare systems. No one can say that they were trying to strike some other facility, while the UAVs were allegedly intercepted by our own systems and accidentally hit this building.

☝️ The strike was not accidental: it came in three waves, with 16 UAVs hitting the same site.

Of course, we will investigate the details. The appropriate conclusions will be drawn. But it is clear to us – and once again becomes obvious – who we are dealing with, who we are fighting, and what we are fighting for. This is a manifestation of neo-Nazism. It once again confirms the terrorist nature of the Kiev regime.

The reasons behind the Kiev regime’s criminal conduct are clear. Constant failures at the front, surrendering positions, populated areas and territories.

For the AFU, the situation at the front is gradually turning from difficult and critical into catastrophic. Neither Western aid – which is regularly stolen, they simply cannot resist stealing it – nor forced mobilisation helps, when people are rounded up in the streets like stray dogs and then thrown to the front. Against this backdrop, desertion is also growing catastrophically for the enemy. It is becoming large-scale.

The situation for the ruling clique is further aggravated by all-consuming corruption that is corroding society and is covered up by the regime’s ringleaders. In fact, they themselves are part of these corruption schemes, which is why they later help one another flee the country and escape to Israel and other countries abroad.

Everyone knows perfectly well – both in Ukraine and around the world – that the Ukrainian authorities steal from absolutely everything. It has even reached military property and personal protective equipment intended for those very people who are driven to the front like cattle – driven to die for those who are plundering Ukraine and foreign aid.

The Kiev regime undoubtedly needs such crimes in order to divert attention from what is happening at the front and inside the country, to provoke a response from Russia, and then – as we know, and have seen many times before – to blame everything on us, on Russia, on our country: all escalations and all consequences of such crimes.

👉 Russia's Foreign Ministry has been instructed to inform international organisations and the international community about this crime.

But, of course, you and I understand that in such cases, MFA statements alone cannot suffice. Therefore, Russia's Defence Ministry has been ordered to submit its proposals.

◾️ I would now ask everyone to rise and honour the memory of those who were killed (a minute of silence).

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⚡️ Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

IN CONNECTION WITH THE OUTRIGHT LIES SPREAD YESTERDAY AT THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE WEST— IN PARTICULAR BY THE LATVIAN PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE, WHO HAS LOST ALL DIGNITY — CLAIMING THAT THERE HAD BEEN NO STRIKES BY THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE ON THE COLLEGE IN STAROBELSK, WE ARE ORGANIZING A VISIT TO THE SITE OF THE TRAGEDY FOR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS ACCREDITED IN MOSCOW.

Hopefully, BBC and CNN won’t suddenly go on vacation.

❗️ Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing Following the Attack on Starobelsk (May 22, 2026)

💬 Today we have convened an emergency UNSC meeting in connection to yet another horrific terrorist attack perpetrated by the neo-Nazi Kiev regime against Russian civilians.

In the early hours of May 22, the Ukrainian army used four fixed-wing drones to launch a targeted strike on the administrative buildings and dormitory of the Starobelsk College of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University.

According to existing reports, at the time of the incident, there were 86 students aged 14 to 18 and one staff member in the dormitory building. As a result, the five-story building collapsed down to the second floor. As of 3 p.m., it has been confirmed that six people have died, and more than 40 children have been wounded to varying degrees.

Unfortunately, that number is likely to rise. A number of children are in critical condition and remain in hospital, with the search for missing people going on: there are still children buried under the rubble. <...>

Thus, this was a deliberate strike targeting a civilian facility where children live and study; this strike was carried out at nighttime when the dormitory was full, and it was clearly perpetrated with the aim of incurring the highest possible number of casualties. Under international humanitarian law, this constitutes a war crime.

By no means could this have been an accidental strike: there were three waves of drones that hit the same location. Neither could the UAV strike on the college have been the result of air defense or radio electronic warfare, as was immediately claimed by Kiev. None of those inside the building were or could have been taking part in hostilities, and there are no military facilities in the vicinity of the college. This was an attack targeting sleeping children, and this is yet another testament to the craven, terrorist, and anti-human nature of the Kiev regime: it is sustaining losses on the battlefield and hitting in agony what is the most sacred, with the West turning a blind eye to these crimes and covering them up.

Furthermore, this clearly attests to the bad faith and unwillingness to negotiate on the part of Kiev, which –  acting with the connivance of its Western sponsors – not only fails to embrace a peaceful resolution but is openly sabotaging it.

Such strikes using long-range weapons supplied to the Kiev regime by NATO countries – including UAVs – are being carried out with technical assistance from foreign specialists from well-known NATO States. We have verifiable information that Western capitals are providing the Ukrainian armed forces with intelligence and assisting them with targeting. <...>

The Kiev neo-Nazi regime has never ceased its attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure of our country, using cruise missiles and long-range rocket artillery supplied by Western countries. Officials on Bankovaya Street openly express joy when women, children, and the elderly die, and when residential buildings and social facilities are hit.

In April alone, at least 100 civilians (including 8 children) were killed as a result of criminal acts by Ukrainian militants, and 667 people, including 34 minors, were injured. Over the past week, 234 Russian citizens have been affected by constant shelling and drone strikes by Ukrainian nationalists. Of them, 203 people were wounded, including 18 children, and 31 people were killed, including 2 children. <...>

We call on international organizations, national governments, and the global community to give a frank assessment of the criminal actions by the Zelensky regime and to strongly condemn the bloody terrorist attack in Starobelsk. Silence would be tantamount to complicity in the brutal acts by the Kiev terrorists and indifference to the plight of all innocent children who were murdered and injured.

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🪶 Ежегодно 24 мая в нашей стране и за её пределами отмечается День славянской письменности и культуры.

Этот праздник приурочен ко дню памяти святых равноапостольных братьев Кирилла и Мефодия, славянских просветителей, чьи имена знакомы всем ещё со школы.

Они почитаются как создатели первой славянской азбуки. Их подвижническая деятельность более тысячи лет назад послужила основой развития славянской и, в частности, русской книжности и литературы.

📚 В сознании многих поколений славян эти святые стали символами славянского письма и культуры.

Уникальность праздника заключается в том, что он играет огромную роль как в единении российского общества, так и в укреплении его связей со славянскими народами на основе общих исторических и культурных традиций.

Сегодня как никогда важно беречь и передавать новым поколениям художественные сокровища нашей страны, прививать любовь к родной речи и бережное отношение к языку.

💬 Как сказал великий российский филолог, академик Дмитрий Сергеевич Лихачёв:

«Самая большая ценность народа – это язык, язык, на котором он пишет, говорит, думает. Думает! Это надо понять досконально, во всей многозначности и многозначительности этого факта. Ведь это значит, что вся сознательная жизнь человека проходит через родной ему язык».

В этом году в Москве празднование Дня славянской письменности и культуры пройдёт 24 мая в Храме Христа Спасителя, где состоится праздничный концерт с участием ведущих деятелей академического искусства. Традиционно с приветственным словом выступит Святейший Патриарх Московский и всея Руси Кирилл.

(Из брифинга официального представителя МИД России М.В.Захаровой от 21 мая 2026 года)

◼️ In Starobelsk, Russia's Lugansk People's Republic, not far from the site of the tragedy, a spontaneous memorial has been erected in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack carried out by the Kiev regime. The city's residents, fellow students, relatives and friends of those killed and injured continue to bring flowers...

📆 On May 24, Russia and many other countries celebrate the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture — a holiday honoring the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers and outstanding enlighteners of the Slavic peoples. They are regarded as the creators of the first Slavic alphabet, and their work laid the foundation for the development of Slavic — including Russian — writing, literature, and education.

In Russia, the holiday was first widely celebrated in 1863, marking the millennium of Slavic literacy. That same year, the Holy Synod decreed that the memory of Cyril and Methodius should be commemorated annually. In the Soviet Union, the idea of reviving the celebration emerged in 1986, and in 1991 it was granted official state status.

🌍 Slavic languages have a rich history and are spoken across a vast geographic area. Today, more than 400 million people speak languages belonging to the Slavic group. Depending on the classification, the group includes between 10 and 18 languages, the largest and most widely spoken of which is Russian.

💬 Maria Zakharova:

The uniqueness of this holiday lies in the fact that it plays a major role both in uniting Russian society and in strengthening its ties with Slavic peoples on the basis of shared historical and cultural traditions.

(From the briefing by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman on May 21, 2026)

This year, Moscow’s celebrations of the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture will take place on May 24 at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, where a festive concert featuring leading figures of academic arts will be held. As is customary, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia will deliver a welcoming address.

#DayOfSlavicLiteratureAndCulture

🎙 Human Rights Commissioner Yana Latratova’s comment at the site of the tragedy in Starobelsk

💬 A horrific tragedy happened here, in the school, on May 22. At night, when the children were asleep – you can see their photos <...> – 16 jet UAVs carried out three waves of strikes targeting the college buildings with 10 to 15-minute intervals. There were 16 drones. They were waiting for the children to start leaving the building. They were shooting directly at children. Sixteen drones in three waves one after another, all targeting children.

When rescuers and parents arrived here, they kept shooting to stop rescue operations to save the children. There were 21 fatalities among children. Many children were injured.

What we saw was hypocrisy and lies. They said there were military facilities here. Where are the military facilities? Just show them. There are only children's belongings here. Nothing here belonged to the military personnel. You can look around. There have never been any military facilities here. It is a college, it is a school where children used to study.

These children wanted to be teachers. The wanted to have a future, they were very creative. But their lives have been cut short.

Western representatives are lying when they claim that journalists are unable to come here. But you are here. Where is CNN? Where is the BBC? Where are the Japanese media? They are not here. You can see it yourselves. They are lying.

They call it an incident. Do you call the deaths of these children an incident?

These children were born in 2006 or 2007. <...> When they were seven years old, war came to their city. Now that they grew older, death has come for them.

The confrontation continues. Since the Kiev aggression against civilians began in 2014, over 12,000 people died, and there were over 40,000 injured.

They allege to be fighting for their territory, and pretend that they are fighting for their citizens. But look here – they divide them into the first and second class. Ukrainian journalists call Donbass residents ‘genetic trash.’

What about human rights? What about abiding by the UN Security Council resolutions? What about support from other countries? There is none.

It is a war crime as per international humanitarian law. I have sent letters to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Council. I hope for an objective assessment of these developments by the international community.

🕯 It is hard to imagine the feelings of a mother whose child dies. These days have been declared the days of mourning in the republic. We grieve alongside the parents.

#KievRegimeCrimes

#Анонс

⚡️ 26-29 мая 2026 года в Московской области под эгидой Совета Безопасности Российской Федерации пройдёт первый Международный форум по безопасности.

Участие примут более 140 иностранных делегаций из более чем 120 стран.

Своих представителей на Форум направляют страны, в которых проживает более 5,5 млрд. человек или около 70% населения Земли: наши партнёры из стран #ШОС, #БРИКС, #АСЕАН, большинство стран Ближнего Востока и Латинской Америки, 50 государств Африки.

Запланировано проведение 40 двусторонних встреч по линии Совета Безопасности Российской Федерации и  85 по линии заинтересованных ведомств.

В рамках Форума будут организованы:

•  14-я ежегодная международная встреча высоких представителей, курирующих вопросы безопасности;
•  6 многосторонних встреч (БРИКС, #СНГ, Россия-АСЕАН, Россия-Центральная Азия, Россия - страны Сахеля, брифинг для стран Африки);
•  21 мероприятие в формате «круглых столов», конференций, дискуссионных панелей и стратегических сессий;
•  25 выставочных экспозиций.

К организации мероприятий привлечены более 30 органов государственной власти и корпораций Российской Федерации.

«На полях» Форума планируется подписание 10 соглашений и меморандумов по линии аппарата Совета Безопасности Российской Федерации и федеральных органов исполнительной власти.

МИД России организует:

• 26 мая — дискуссионную панель «Террористические методы киевского режима в условиях распространения неонацизма на Украине»
• 26 мая — круглый стол «Дезинформация и манипуляция как инструментарий гибридной войны против мирового большинства за сохранение гегемонии»
• 27 мая — брифинг по тематике деятельности Форума партнёрства «Россия-Африка»
• 27 мая — круглый стол «Военные преступления киевского режима: от свидетельств к приговору».

👉 Об участии представителей российского внешнеполитического ведомства в мероприятиях Форума
👉 Полная программа Форума

28 мая под председательством Секретаря Совета Безопасности России Сергея Шойгу откроется XIV международная встреча высоких представителей, курирующих вопросы безопасности, в которой также примут участие 14 делегаций из международных организаций.

Подано более 120 заявок от иностранных журналистов из 17 стран, в том числе из недружественных (США, Британия, Германия, Япония).

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