Kremlin notes Western media absence from Starobelsk college attack site

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. The Kremlin has pointed out the fact that a number of Western media outlets chose not to send representatives to Starobelsk, in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), to report on the consequences of the recent Ukrainian attack on a local college, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"We have noticed that a number of media outlets, Western media outlets, decided against going there under various pretexts," Peskov said at a press briefing.

He also pointed to the efforts of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry and other Russian state institutions, "for managing to promptly organize such an important and necessary trip [to bring journalists to the scene of the attack]."

"It’s a good thing that a large number of journalists went there, personally witnessed and grasped the scope of the tragedy that happened there," he added.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced on May 24 that over 50 media representatives from 19 countries visited the site of the tragedy in Starobelsk, in the wake of the Ukrainian military attack on a local college.

The Ukrainian military launched drones at the academic building and dormitory of the Lugansk Pedagogical University’s Vocational College in the city of Starobelsk in the early hours of May 22. As many as 86 students aged from 14 and 18 years were inside at the time of the attack. According to the latest official reports, 21 people were killed and over 40 more wounded.

According to LPR Head Leonid Pasechnik, up to 65 children were injured in the attack.