Russia to Arrange Visit of Foreign Reporters to Site of Starobelsk Attack — Diplomat

“I hope BBC and CNN reporters won’t happen to be on vacation,” Maria Zakharova said

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. Moscow will arrange a visit of foreign reporters to the site of the Ukrainian attack on a college in the Lugansk People’s Republic amid false allegations by Western officials, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"As Westerner officials, including the Latvian envoy who has lost her dignity, circulated blatant lies at the UN Security Council meeting yesterday, claiming that the Ukrainian armed forces had not attacked the college in Starobelsk, we are arranging a visit of foreign correspondents accredited in Moscow to the site of the tragedy," she wrote on Telegram.

"I hope BBC and CNN reporters won’t happen to be on vacation," Zakharova added with irony.

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 between 14 and 18 years were inside at the time of the attack. According to the Russian Emergencies Ministry, the strike killed ten people and left another 38 injured. Eleven students remain missing.