Russia and Ukraine trade blame over deadly attack on boarding school
Moscow sent 55 drones into Ukraine overnight into Sunday
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Competing claims emerged over a deadly attack on a boarding school in Sudzha, a city in Russia’s Kursk region that has been under Ukrainian control for five months, with Ukraine and Russia accusing each other of carrying out the strike.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Saturday night that four people were killed and a further four seriously wounded in the strike, with 84 people rescued by Ukrainian servicemen from the rubble of the building. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Moscow had bombed the boarding school where civilians were sheltering and preparing to evacuate.
The General Staff said those in need of additional medical assistance were evacuated to medical facilities in Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed in the early hours of Sunday that it was Ukrainian forces that had launched a missile strike on the school, saying that the missiles were launched from Ukraine’s Sumy region.
Meanwhile, the death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Poltava on Saturday rose to 12, including two children, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Sunday. Seventeen people were injured in the attack on the five-story building, it said.
Moscow sent 55 drones into Ukraine overnight into Sunday, Ukrainian officials said. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, 40 drones were destroyed during the overnight attacks. A further 13 drones were “lost”, likely having been electronically jammed.
Two people were wounded in a drone attack in the Kharkiv region, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Sunday.
Ukraine live blog
Latest updates as of 11am GMT 02/02/2025
- Ukraine accused Russia of a missile strike on a boarding school in Kursk, resulting in at least four deaths, while Russia claims Ukraine launched the attack.
- A Russian missile strike on a residential building in Poltava killed 11 people and injured 16.
- Ukraine claims to have shot down 40 of 55 Russian drones launched overnight.
- Zelensky stated that excluding Ukraine from US-Russia peace talks would be “very dangerous.”
- Zelensky believes NATO membership is the “cheapest security guarantee” for Ukraine and would strengthen the US geopolitically.
- Follow latest updates
In Russia, the Defense Ministry said that five Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight in five regions of western Russia: three over the Kursk region, and one each over the Belgorod and Bryansk regions.
A man was killed in a drone strike in the Belgorod region, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.