Russia labels Ukraine attack in occupied Luhansk ‘monstrous crime’

Moscow says student dormitory hit, killing six people. Putin instructs army to ‘prepare suggestions’ for retaliation.Russia has expressed outrage as it reported that a Ukrainian drone attack killed at least six people in the occupied Luhansk region.The Moscow-installed regional governor, Leonid Pasechnik, reported on Friday that a student dormitory in Starobilsk was hit. The Kremlin, which has killed thousands in Ukraine since launching its full-scale invasion over four years ago, described it as a “monstrous crime”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Migrants ‘feared for their lives’ as Libyan gunmen fired on rescue shiplist 2 of 4Russian drone hits Chinese ship off Ukraine before Putin meets Xi Jinpinglist 3 of 4How Chinese, Iranian companies profit in Russia-occupied Ukrainian regionslist 4 of 4The economic shock of the Iran war will hit the world in four wavesend of listRussian President Vladimir Putin called it a “terrorist strike”, stressing that the attack was deliberate, and that Ukrainian forces launched “three waves” of strikes at the same location.“At the moment, it is known that six people were killed, 39 were wounded and 15 people are unaccounted for, as the search through the rubble is still ongoing,” Putin said in televised comments, ordering Russia’s army to “prepare suggestions” for a retaliation against Ukraine.Pasechnik earlier said Ukrainian drones hit the five-storey dormitory belonging to Luhansk-pedagogical-university" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="132289" data-entity-type="organization">Luhansk Pedagogical University during the overnight attack. The building then collapsed to its second-floor.About 86 children and teachers were inside when the drone struck, Russian authorities said. Some people were trapped under the rubble. The victims were aged between 14 and 18.“Rescuers continue to pull out the injured children and bodies of the dead, despite a repeated threat of more UAV attacks,” said Yulia Shapovalova, Al Jazeera’s Moscow correspondent.Luhansk, over which Russia claimed full control in April, is one of four Ukrainian regions occupied or partly occupied by Russian forces.