"A lump in my throat-what do the children have to do with it?"

In Starobilsk, a spontaneous memorial appeared at the site of the tragedy — residents bring flowers and toys here. According to updated data, 65 people were injured and 21 died, mostly teenagers, when the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck the dormitory and the academic building of the local pedagogical college. One of those killed by the Kiev regime, Anna Pogribnichenko, dreamed of becoming a kindergarten teacher and was planning a wedding. She was buried on May 24. On the same day, Russian and foreign journalists from 19 countries visited the site of the tragedy, most of whom condemned the silence of the Western media. About what foreign correspondents saw in Starobilsk, and how rescuers worked at the scene of the tragedy, in the Izvestia report.

"The smile practically never left her face"

In Starobilsk, the consequences of the terrible terrorist attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being eliminated for the third day. On the morning of May 24, all streets were blocked on the way to the scene of the tragedy as heavy machinery continued to dismantle the rubble at the college. But the search and rescue operation had already stopped by that time. According to its results, preliminary data on the victims of the Ukrainian terrorist attack were announced — 65 injured, 21 people died. The oldest of them was born in 2003, the youngest in 2008, the government of the LPR reported.

Not far from the college building, a black poster is hanging on the wall of one of the houses, on which it says "Starobilsk 05/22/26." Friends, relatives and ordinary citizens bring flowers and soft toys here.

— We left a little earlier to come here to lay flowers before work, — says local resident Alexander, — I saw a glow, I heard explosions — it was at half past one in the morning. And now... a lump in my throat. I feel sorry for the children, what do they have to do with it?

Local resident Elena says that she is now very scared for her children.: "I have two too."

On May 24, Anna Pogribnichenko, a college student who died during the terrorist attack, was buried in the LPR. She was waiting for the groom's imminent return from the army, planning a wedding, says her cousin Irina Goloburdova.

— We talked on the phone. She was saying: "I have a fiance. Come, there will be a wedding," Irina recalls.

The deceased girl wanted to become a kindergarten teacher, says her homeroom teacher Elena Senchenkova.

— Anya was a very positive girl, a talented child, — says the teacher. The smile practically never left her face. She decided at school that it was with pedagogy that she decided to link her fate. She easily found a common language with young children.

Anna enrolled in a teacher training college with her friend. She was also in the dormitory during the strike and was injured, says Elena Senchenkova.

"They took away the last chance from children"

On May 24, more than 50 foreign journalists from 19 countries, including China, Lebanon, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Italy, and Austria, arrived in Starobilsk. They were given the opportunity to freely inspect the scene of the tragedy — the destroyed college building.

Employees of the Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia informed foreign journalists about the progress of the investigation into the circumstances of the terrorist attack.

Sergei Zvyagintsev, the commander of the 64th fire department, told reporters about how he personally rescued children from the dormitory that collapsed after the terrorist attack. He didn't say much — it was clear that the rescuers had a lot of work to do, and they were very tired.

During the rescue operations, the aviation danger regime was repeatedly declared — the enemy tried again and again to hit the college territory, but they did not allow him to do so, he noted.

"It was like they didn't let us work on purpose, they took away the last chance from the children so that we wouldn't save them," says Sergey.

But despite the danger, the rescuers did not leave the college grounds.

— Anyway, we continued to work at our own risk, — Sergey Zvyagintsev recalls without emotion.

Sergei and his subordinates performed a real feat on the day of the attack. They took three girls from the fifth floor of the destroyed college building. Despite the fact that the impact could happen again at any moment and the rescuers would have few chances to survive.

— They tried to find it until the last moment. We understood perfectly well that there were children there," Sergei recalls the first hours after the stroke.

"Ukrainians understood perfectly well what they were doing"

The journalists were shown everything in detail: where the rooms were, the exits, how the drone strike was carried out — they recreated the events that took place that terrible night.

Members of the press were allowed into the dilapidated building. You can only climb to the second or third floor without risking your life using one of the stairs — all the other flights are either destroyed or in disrepair.

Chinese journalist Lu Yuguang personally toured the broken dorm rooms, trying to reconstruct the events of the fateful day.

"The children live here, they saw it with their own eyes," he told Izvestia after going outside. — We saw their beds, rooms, toys. It's terrible, it's scary. And who is silent now? The West is silent. How? Why?

He noted that the Western media would continue to ignore the truth: they had "their own position," he said bitterly.

Irish journalist Chay Bose is confident that the drone strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the college and dormitory was targeted.

"The Ukrainian military understood perfectly well what they were doing," he noted, and said that they were not telling the Western audience this.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are attacking peaceful targets because of failures at the front, says Pakistani journalist Ishteak Hamdani.

"It hurts." Children are being killed for a reason — they are killing the future of the country," the journalist noted.

Responsible and honest reporters, he added, should show their footage of the aftermath of the attack on the college in the media of their countries or publish materials on social networks if they cannot air them on their own TV channels.