At least four people were killed when a boarding school in Russia&rsquo;s Kursk region, used as a shelter for evacuees, was hit by an airstrike, Ukraine&rsquo;s military reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the facility, located in the border town of Sudzha, was destroyed despite the presence of civilians. Ukraine&rsquo;s General Staff, in a statement issued late Saturday, said that rescue operations were ongoing, with 84 people either saved or receiving medical care. Four of the injured were in critical condition.
Russia, however, blamed Ukraine for the strike. The Russian Defence Ministry described it as a &ldquo;targeted missile attack&rdquo; carried out by Ukrainian forces. The claim could not be independently verified by Reuters.
Zelenskyy, posting in English on X, called the incident evidence of Russia&rsquo;s &ldquo;lack of civility&rdquo; in warfare. &ldquo;This is how Russia fights: bombing civilians in a boarding school,&rdquo; he wrote, drawing parallels with Russian military actions in Chechnya, Syria, and Ukraine.
Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, said in a Facebook video that nearly 100 people were trapped under the debris, many of them elderly or infirm.
The Kursk region has seen ongoing clashes since Ukrainian forces carried out a cross-border operation last August, securing control over some areas.
Meanwhile, Russia launched a series of drone and missile strikes on Ukraine earlier on Saturday, killing 15 people and damaging residential and energy infrastructure, according to Ukrainian officials.
In Poltava, a missile strike on a residential building left 11 dead and 16 injured, including four children, Ukraine&rsquo;s emergency services reported. Rescuers worked through the night, pulling survivors from the rubble.
Further attacks in Kharkiv and Sumy resulted in additional casualties. A drone strike in Kharkiv killed one person and injured four, while in Sumy, three police officers lost their lives while on patrol.

At least four killed in Kursk region strike; Russia and Ukraine trade blame for attack

Ukraine: Airstrike Hits Evacuee Shelter

At least four killed in Kursk region strike; Russia and Ukraine trade blame for attack

February 2, 2025 | 13:54 IST