Milorad Dodik, chairman of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats in Republika Srpska, said in an interview with TASS that the strike on Starobelsk was intended to provoke public discontent inside Russia.

According to him, the attack on Starobelsk was deliberate. Dodik believes Kiev and Europeans understood that the target was an educational facility where students were present at the time, but nevertheless sent drones at the college. He linked this to an attempt to trigger a wave of outrage in Russia and then shift responsibility for what happened onto the other side.

Dodik described such logic as perverse and drew attention to the lack of reaction in European countries to the consequences of the terrorist attack in the LPR.

At the same time, he stressed that Russia’s approach to combat operations is fundamentally different, in his assessment. According to Dodik, despite calls for a tougher response, Russia is pursuing a strategic goal of reducing the suffering of civilians.

On the night of May 22, buildings of the dormitory and academic building of the Starobelsk Pedagogical College of Lugansk State Pedagogical University in the LPR came under a Ukrainian Armed Forces strike. As a result of the attack, 21 students were killed and more than 40 people were wounded with injuries of varying severity.