Putin Blames Ukraine After Six Killed in Starobilsk Drone Strike — Ukraine War News
Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for a drone attack in Starobilsk, in Russian-controlled Luhansk, and said the strike on a student dormitory killed six people. He said 15 people were still unaccounted for and that he had ordered his military to prepare options to retaliate, as the war reached day 1,550.
Putin tied the attack to Friday's fighting in eastern Ukraine, where he said a drone hit the dormitory in a Russian-controlled part of Luhansk. The same day, Ukraine's military denied the accusations and said it had struck an elite drone command unit in the area.
Melnyk Rejects Russia's Claim
At a UN Security Council emergency meeting called by Russia, Andrii Melnyk dismissed the accusations as a "pure propaganda show." Melnyk said the Ukrainian operations on Friday "exclusively targeted the Russian war machine" and said the strikes neutralised an oil refinery, ammunition depots, air defence assets, and command centres.
That exchange left the Starobilsk strike in the middle of a larger dispute over what Ukraine hit and what Russia says it hit. Putin described six deaths and dozens wounded in the dormitory attack, while Ukraine's military presented its own account of the same day's operations.
IAEA Sees Power Cut Risk
Elsewhere on Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Ukrainian authorities had advised that a fire broke out at the Dniprovska 750-kilovolt electrical substation because of military activity. The agency also said an operating nuclear power plant was partially disconnected from off-site power supplies at the request of the grid operator.
That added a separate strain to the same day of fighting, with energy infrastructure and military targets overlapping in the reports from Ukraine and Russia. Hundreds of Ukrainians also marched through Kyiv on Friday to demand that the government veto Bill No. 13646.
Novorossiysk Fire Injures Two
On Saturday, falling debris from drones triggered a fire at an oil terminal in Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, injuring two people and damaging several technical and administrative buildings. Ukrainian forces also attacked a Russian oil refinery in Yaroslavl on Friday, and Ukraine's Defence Ministry said on X that Ukraine hit 11 Russian oil facilities this month as of 21 May, including Kirishi.
Putin's retaliation order now sits beside those strikes and counterstrikes, with the Russian president publicly tying Starobilsk to a promised response. Fifteen people remain unaccounted for after the dormitory attack, and more than 90,000 people are listed as missing in Ukraine's registry.
