The Albany Gazette - Ukraine hits college in Russian-occupied town, killing 4: Moscow

Lugansk is in east Ukraine, but is almost entirely occupied by Russia, which claims the region as its own.

Images released by the region's Russian-installed governor showed what appeared to be a college in the town of Starobilsk with its windows blown out, flames visible in one of them.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

"Enemy drones attacked the academic building and dormitory of Starobelsk Professional College," the Moscow-installed governor Leonid Pasechnik said in a post on Russia's MAX messenger, using the Russian name for the town.

"At the time of the strike, 86 children aged 14 to 18 were there," he added.

The attack killed four people and injured 40, Russia's foreign ministry said in a later statement.

"All those responsible will be identified and will face inevitable and severe punishment. There will be no leniency," it said.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, accused the Ukrainian military of having fired four drones at the building.

"As a result of the attack, the five-storey building collapsed to the second floor," it said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attack as a "heinous crime".

Starobilsk lies about 65 kilometres (40 miles) from the front line in east Ukraine.

Russian forces captured the town in 2022, shortly after launching their full-scale offensive.

Ukraine, which denies targeting civilians, regularly fires drones at Russian-controlled areas in retaliation for mass Russian strikes on its own people.

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has recorded more than 60,000 civilian casualties since 2022, almost 90 percent of which were in areas controlled by Ukraine.

(O.Garcia--TAG)