Friends of the dead dispute Ukraine’s claim that a strike on a college in occupied Luhansk targeted a Russian drone unit’s headquarters

On the night of May 21–22, Ukrainian drones struck targets in the annexed Luhansk region, hitting the Starobilsk Pedagogical College and the Vocational College of Luhansk Pedagogical University.

The two colleges share a dormitory building; because the vocational college has no basement of its own, students from both schools shelter in the pedagogical college’s basement during air raid warnings.

According to Russian officials, about 80 students were in a shared dormitory at the time of the attack, having returned to their rooms after an earlier alert.

Twenty-one people were killed; many more were wounded.

Bereg, a cooperative of independent journalists, spoke with classmates and friends of the dead. ...