A Russian airstrike on a boarding school in the Ukrainian-controlled town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region killed four people and injured dozens, many of them elderly, Ukrainian officials said Saturday.
More than 80 people were rescued from the building, according to Ukraine’s military. President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians preparing to evacuate, calling the attack evidence that Russia is “a state devoid of civility.”
“This is how Russia wages war—Sudzha, Kursk region, Russian territory, a boarding school with civilians preparing to evacuate,” Zelensky wrote on X. “A Russian aerial bomb. They destroyed the building even though dozens of civilians were there.”
Ukraine’s general staff confirmed the deaths and stated on Telegram that “the strike was carried out on purpose.” The BBC has not independently verified the claim that Russia used a guided aerial bomb, and Moscow has not commented on the incident.
Ukraine launched an offensive into the Russian Kursk region last August, briefly seizing territory and surprising Russian border guards. Kyiv has previously stated that it does not intend to hold onto the captured areas but views them as leverage in future peace talks.
Zelensky likened the strike to previous Russian military campaigns, saying, “This is how Russia waged war against Chechnya decades ago. They killed Syrians the same way. Russian bombs destroy Ukrainian homes the same way.”
While there has been no official response from the Kremlin, at least one pro-Russian military blogger claimed Ukrainian forces were responsible for the attack.
