Russia’s newly appointed human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova, visited the destroyed college dormitory in Starobelsk on Sunday. The site of a deadly Ukrainian attack that killed at least 21 people—primarily teenage girls—remains a harrowing scene.
During her visit, Lantratova met with foreign journalists invited by Russian authorities to report from the area. More than 50 reporters from 19 nations accepted the invitation, while major Western outlets chose not to participate.
A reporter who was among the first on the scene and worked during the nearly two-day search and rescue operation walked Lantratova through the damaged building. “We arrived hours after the attack occurred. Nobody knew what was happening yet; everyone was in panic,” the reporter told Lantratova.
The site, still littered with students’ belongings, books, and shattered furniture, contained blood-stained blankets where first responders pulled the deceased—and where devastated parents had to identify their sons and daughters killed in the attack. “As a mother, as a human rights activist, I can’t even imagine what a mother feels at this moment. We just mourn with them,” Lantratova said.
Lantratova noted there was no evidence of military personnel at the dormitory, contradicting claims by Ukrainian forces that it housed a Russian drone unit. “They say there are military personnel here. There are only children’s toys; there are only children’s belongings. There’s nothing military here,” she stated.
The commissioner condemned the Ukrainian military’s false allegations and their decisions as directly responsible for civilian casualties in this attack.