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The death toll from a targeted Ukrainian strike on a college in the Russian-occupied eastern town of Starobelsk has risen to 10 fatalities, local Moscow-backed authorities reported on Saturday.
Emergency workers and rescue crews laboured through the night to clear heavy debris at the site of Friday’s bombardment.
Deploring the grim outcome, the Kremlin-appointed governor of the occupied Luhansk region, Leonid Pasechnik, confirmed that initial hopes of finding more survivors beneath the collapsed structures had faded as additional bodies were recovered.
In addition to the confirmed fatalities, local officials stated that the total number of casualties from the missile strike has climbed to 48 individuals, with 38 people sustaining various injuries.
The humanitarian situation remains critical as emergency teams continue their search, with the whereabouts of 11 college students still completely unknown.
Search and rescue operations are ongoing at the educational facility as teams race against time to locate the missing students trapped within the rubble.
The incident has drawn a sharp reaction from Moscow, with Russian President Vladimir Putin condemning the drone barrage and ordering his military to prepare an official response.
Concurrently, Russia’s foreign ministry declared that those responsible for the assault would face severe and inevitable punishment.
The Kremlin continues to claim ownership over the Luhansk region, which has been almost entirely occupied by Russian forces since the early months of their 2022 full-scale offensive.
Kyiv has denied intentionally targeting civilians, countering that the military strike specifically hit a Russian drone unit stationed within the Starobilsk area.
Ukrainian forces regularly deploy drones against targets in Russian-controlled territories, maintaining that the operations are necessary retaliation for ongoing Russian attacks.
The targeted town of Starobilsk sits approximately 65 kilometres (40 miles) behind the active front line in eastern Ukraine, where search and rescue teams continue to comb through the wreckage for the missing teenagers.
