War in Ukraine: after Ukrainian strikes on a high school, the Kremlin takes journalists on board for a communications operation

Ukraine denies having targeted students and claims to have targeted a military target during its attack on Friday May 22. But Moscow maintains its accusations concerning this drone strike on the buildings of a technical high school in Starobilsk, in the Ukrainian region of Lugansk occupied by the Russians. They therefore launched, early on Sunday May 24, a large-scale attack (90 missiles and 600 drones) in retaliation, leaving 21 dead and more than 40 injured. The Russian authorities also decided on Sunday to take around fifty journalists to Starobilsk, including around fifteen from Western media, notably Franceinfo.

This is a fairly unusual operation. Russia is reluctant to give access to occupied Ukraine, but there, journalists were welcome, for an express trip to the Lugansk republic. More precisely in the small town of Starobilsk, where a technical high school was partially destroyed by Ukrainian drone strikes. The victims were students who slept in the rooms above the classrooms. We were guided through the rubble by an investigator from the investigation committee. A special service under the direct responsibility of the Kremlin.

“We are on the fifth floor of the buildingshe indicates during the visit. It was on the roof that a Ukrainian drone crashed, injuring and, unfortunately, killing children. Look, we can still see the traces of a bloody hand here.”

“This is where these children led happy, peaceful lives and made plans for the future.”

une enquêtrice du comité d’enquête russe

à franceinfo

The investigator does not try to hide her emotion, adds comments. The objective is clear: to play on emotion, and to show that, contrary to what kyiv claims, it was indeed an educational establishment that was targeted. The site clearly resembles a high school dormitory, not a military site, and this location is well-referenced as being what is known as a “collège technique” in Russia.

It is likely that the Ukrainian army made a mistake, but we cannot completely rule out the possibility that there were drone operators in training in the building, in addition to students, as some claim on the Ukrainian side. For the Russians, in any case, things are clear: “It’s a war crime“, told us Yana Lantratova, the human rights commissioner who had been sent there by Moscow.

The objective of taking as witnesses the fifty or so journalists gathered, with the complicity of the Russian state media, who bombarded us with questions. “Give us your opinion as journalists, as colleagues. Does this appear to be staged?”they ask in French.

“Was there something that shocked you, perhaps?”

A Russian journalist

à franceinfo

On the Russian side, this strategy of using Western journalists as representatives of their country’s power is quite classic. While they were there, and while Russian TV was already broadcasting the first images, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said she hoped that this presence would show Emmanuel Macron what the consequences of his support for Ukraine. It was all very orchestrated.

Moscow is using this act of war to justify a massive response against Ukraine which took place on the night of Saturday May 23 to Sunday May 24. Russian strikes kill Ukrainian civilians daily, and yet “When our country responds, the strikes always target military targets, our country always respects the norms of international law and our president is always ready to negotiate”assures the Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Yana Lantratova.

This speech is obviously contradicted by the facts and illustrates the difficulty of isolating them behind the fog of war. What happened in Starobilsk was perhaps an error, a blunder, a war crime by the Ukrainian army, but it is also clear that these strikes are widely used by Russia to justify its strategy and possibly cover up its own war crimes.