At least 62 killed in a Russian bombing of a Lugansk school, according to Ukrainian authorities

MADRID, 8 (EUROPE PRESS)

At least 62 people have died in the Russian air attack this Saturday on a school in Belogorovka, in the Ukrainian province of Lugansk, according to the civil-military governor of the region, Serhii Haidai.

The Ukrainian official explained on his Telegram channel that on Saturday at 4:37 p.m. a Russian bombardment caused a fire in the educational center and in the local House of Culture, according to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.

“Most likely, all 60 people under the rubble of the building have died. It cannot kill soldiers, it kills innocent children,” Haidai lamented. “These are the real atrocities of the ‘Russian world’: bombing of a school with a bomb shelter, the murder of children,” she added.

🇺🇦 MFA strongly condemns #Russian shelling of a school in Bilohorivka, sheltered 60 people, on May 7. #russia committed this brutal war crime shortly before the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation, constantly repeating the tragedy of World War II.#StopRussianWar pic.twitter.com/dxf3fX7GrZ

— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) May 8, 2022

The flames were extinguished about four hours later and that’s when two bodies were discovered in the rubble. Another 30 people were pulled from the wreckage of the building, seven of them injured. About 90 people were sheltering in the place.

Later, Haidai himself explained that “a bomb fell on the school.” “Unfortunately it has been totally destroyed. There were 60 people sheltering from the bombing,” he said.

“It was an aviation bomb, not an artillery shell, so the temperature reached was enormous. Workers from the State Emergency Service are trying to remove the debris as quickly as they can, but there is very little hope that there are people alive,” has warned. “But we hope for the best. When the rubble is removed, I will report the situation and there may be someone still alive,” she concluded.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has condemned this attack, a “brutal war crime”. “Russia has perpetrated this brutal war crime shortly before Remembrance and Reconciliation Day and thus repeats the tragedy of World War II again. #StopRussianWar,” the Ministry posted on Twitter.

The message is accompanied by a video with images of the still flaming rubble of the building while rescuers work in the area.

Haidai had previously warned of Russian forces’ intention to “deliberately cause a famine” in Lugansk with attacks on food stores and the water supply system.

However, Haidai stressed last Tuesday that the situation would change within two weeks thanks to the measures taken by Ukraine’s Western allies. “For the Russian occupation it will only get worse,” he said.