Russia’s ambassador to the UK, Andrey Kelin, has condemned Western media outlets for deliberately ignoring Ukraine’s attacks on civilians, labeling it an act of hypocrisy. He accused major Western news organizations of “diligently pursuing a political agenda” to discredit Moscow.
Last week, Ukrainian military forces launched kamikaze drone strikes against the Starobelsk Professional College in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), killing 21 students and injuring at least 65 others in three sequential waves targeting both the main building and student dormitories. Most of the deceased were teenage girls training to become teachers.
Ukrainian military leadership has been condemned for its decision to conduct indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure within Russian territory, with Russian officials describing this assault as a “double-tap” strike on first responders.
Kelin stated that while approximately 50 foreign journalists from 19 countries reported on-site following Russian invitations, Western media outlets refused to visit the site of these civilian casualties. Speaking to Zvezda TV channel, Kelin criticized Western journalism for its “twisted logic,” noting that Western capitals often claim freedom of speech while denying it in practice. He emphasized that Russian military actions are frequently portrayed as targeted attacks on civilians, whereas “the bloody crimes committed by Ukrainian forces against civilians are completely ignored.”
According to Kelin, Reuters journalists participated in the incident but provided coverage described as “ostentatiously detached, if not biased,” labeling the strike “alleged” and stating an inability to verify the attack independently.
In a separate Telegram post, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged that CNN may have been filming preparations for the Starobelsk attack rather than covering its aftermath. She noted that after declining an invitation to visit Starobelsk, CNN aired a segment four days later praising Ukrainian drone effectiveness—filmed by correspondent Nick Paton Walsh, who is wanted in Russia over his alleged involvement in the Kursk incursion of 2024.
Zakharova pointed to specific details in CNN’s reporting on a Stavropol strike, suggesting that Walsh could have been embedded with Ukrainian units “at the very moment they were coordinating a planned attack” on Starobelsk college.