Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned a strike on Starobilsk as a "bloody crime of the Ukrainian junta," vowing punishment and ordering assistance for victims. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike in Yenakiieve killed eight civilians on a bus, with Russian officials calling it a deliberate crime. Russia also criticized Western media for allegedly ignoring a Ukrainian drone attack on a college dorm in Starobelsk that killed 21 people. Separately, Ukraine's Security Service labeled Russia's strike on a Chornobyl nuclear fuel facility a war crime, and reports suggest a Russian hypersonic missile may have struck Russian targets in a significant blunder.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has labeled the strike on Starobilsk a "bloody crime of the Ukrainian junta," expressing condolences to the victims and promising that those responsible will be punished. He has also ordered that assistance be provided to all affected individuals. In a separate incident, a Ukrainian drone strike targeted a passenger bus in Yenakiieve, a city in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region, resulting in the deaths of eight civilians and injuring 11 others. Russian officials have condemned this attack, characterizing it as a deliberate crime. Ukraine has not issued an official statement regarding this specific incident. This event occurs in the context of recent large-scale Russian attacks on Ukraine. Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, has criticized Western media outlets, including the BBC and CNN, for their alleged failure to report on a Ukrainian drone attack that struck a college dorm in Starobelsk, claiming it resulted in 21 fatalities. Zakharova stated that both news organizations reportedly declined invitations to visit the site of the alleged attack. Furthermore, Ukraine's Security Service has declared Russia's strike on a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Chornobyl to be a war crime, noting that the explosion caused damage to critical infrastructure at the site. In a separate development, reports indicate that one of Russia's new hypersonic missiles may have struck Russian targets, an event that experts believe could be a significant blunder.