Kyiv, May 22 (QNA) - Ukraine said on Friday that its forces had targeted a Russian military unit headquarters in the town of Starobilsk in the eastern region of Luhansk, as fighting between the two sides continued to intensify.

In a statement, Ukraine's General Staff said its forces had carried out strikes against Russian infrastructure and facilities being used for military purposes in the area.

The announcement came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin said six people had been killed in a strike on a student dormitory belonging to the Starobilsk Vocational College in Luhansk.

Putin said he had ordered officials to prepare proposals for a response to the attack, accusing Ukraine of committing "crimes" in Luhansk in an attempt to divert attention from developments on the front lines.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had also attacked a Russian oil refinery in Yaroslavl, around 700km (435 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The strike is the latest in a series of Ukrainian attacks targeting Russian energy infrastructure, which Kyiv says are aimed at weakening Moscow's military logistics and fuel supplies.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has remained a central focus of the war since Russia declared in September 2022 that it had annexed the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson following referendums rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies.

Speaking at a ceremony in the Kremlin at the time, Putin said the incorporation of the four regions into the Russian Federation reflected "the will of millions of people" and declared that their residents would remain Russian citizens "forever". (QNA)