Russian forces have struck a dormitory where Russian civilians were staying in Sudzha, Kursk region. However, Russian authorities are actively trying to deny Russia's responsibility for the strike and blame Ukraine.
This is stated in the daily analysis of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces had struck a former boarding school dormitory with a guided floating bomb, which housed 84 local Russian civilians preparing for evacuation, and four Ukrainian police officers.
The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the strike injured four people and killed four.
The Ukrainian Air Force warned that Russian sources were trying to blame Ukraine for the strike.
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD) and senior Russian officials said that Ukrainian forces had launched a missile strike from the Sumy region on a dormitory where 84 local Russian civilians were preparing to evacuate and four Ukrainian police officers. civilians were in Sudzha.
Russian military bloggers widely claimed that Ukrainian forces carried out the strike.
The Russian opposition publication "Agency" reported that Russian state television "Channel One" and NTV claim that Ukrainian forces struck a dormitory housing civilians in Sudzha, but also report Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian positions in Kursk Oblast.
ISW is currently unable to independently verify the details of the strike.
Russia continues to make efforts to illegally deport Ukrainian children to occupied Crimea and to Russia under the guise of evacuation and rehabilitation programs.
Ukrainian forces have recently advanced near Toretsk, and Russian forces have recently advanced near Liman, Siversk, Chasiv Yar, Pokrovsk, and Velika Novosilka.
Russian forces continue to forcibly mobilize civilians from occupied Ukraine into the Russian army in violation of the Geneva Convention. This includes 300 Ukrainians who were mobilized from the occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia Oblast into the Russian army. This happened between October and December 2024.