Published on: 2026-05-22
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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The UN is monitoring with concern reports of an attack on a college campus and dormitory in the city of Starobilsk in the occupied Luhansk region of Ukraine, resulting in deaths and injuries among civilians, including children. This was stated on Friday at a Security Council meeting by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Vanessa Fraser.
She noted that the UN does not have access to the area and cannot confirm the details of what happened.
Fraser reminded that four years after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine, large-scale attacks continue daily, resulting in casualties among the civilian population and destroying critically important infrastructure. The special representative noted that Ukrainian strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation also led to casualties among civilians and damage to residential buildings and other civilian objects.
“I categorically condemn all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure,” she emphasized.
Fraser reminded that such actions are prohibited by international humanitarian law and “must immediately cease.”
“Civilians, children, humanitarian organization workers, and civilian objects should never become targets,” she said.
According to Fraiser, the incident in Starobilsk is a “vivid reminder of a broader and deeply troubling trend”: attacks on schools continue to undermine the educational process for millions of children in conflict zones around the world. She emphasized that the destruction of schools deprives children not only of classrooms but also of “a sense of safety, stability, order, and hope for the future,” which has “devastating and lifelong consequences.”
At the conclusion, Freiser reiterated the call of the UN Secretary-General for a “full, immediate, and unconditional cessation of hostilities” as a step toward a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in accordance with the UN Charter, international law, and UN resolutions.
Commenting on the attack in Starobelsk, the representative of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Edem Vosornu, stated: “The situation continues to develop, and much remains unknown to us. But what is certain is that the human casualties caused by this war testify to violations of international humanitarian law norms. The civilian population must be protected.”
She also recalled the attack on May 20 on a warehouse in Dnipro, rented by the UN Refugee Agency, in which two people were killed and humanitarian aid worth about one million dollars was destroyed.
“This is already the fifth case of attacks on humanitarian workers and humanitarian facilities in just nine days. This must stop,” Vosorny said.
“The obligation to protect the civilian population and civilian objects, including humanitarian workers and property, is mandatory for all parties to this conflict. Strikes on the civilian population and indiscriminate attacks are strictly prohibited under international law,” she added.
Vosorn called on the Security Council to use its influence to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law norms and the protection of the civilian population, including children, wherever they may have been displaced.
“According to available data, six people died and dozens were injured as a result of the attack, including children. It is still too early to speak about the full scale of losses, since, as far as we know, rescue operations are ongoing,” said Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
According to UN data, Chaiban noted that since the escalation of the war in 2022, more than 3,400 children have been killed or injured: “Millions of children in Ukraine continue to suffer from ongoing hostilities, living under conditions of air raids, the risk of air strikes, forced displacement, as well as increasing uncertainty and fear, with nowhere being safe.”
He called on all sides to observe the norms of international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of the civilian population, including children. Chaiban stated that UNICEF is concerned about attacks on schools and the “destructive impact on students, teachers, and the education process in Ukraine.”
“Since 2022, it has been confirmed that more than 1,780 educational institutions have been damaged or destroyed,” said the representative of the Children’s Fund.
He called on the Security Council to use its influence to facilitate a political dialogue that will help “put an end to this war and give millions of children hope for a lasting peace.”
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